SB 

1842 






• I M * 



/ 

EVERY LADY 



HER OWK 



FLOWER GARDENER. 

BY 

LOUISA JOHNSON. 

CONTAINING 

SIMPLE AND PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS 



CULTIVATING PLANTS AND FLOWERS, 

IN THE 

NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN STATES. 



FLORA'S REVEALINGS, 

AND 

HINTS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF FLOWERS IN ROOMS, 

&C., W.ITH BRIEF BOTANICAL DESCRIPTIONS 

OF PLANTS AND FLOWERS ; 

THE WHOLE IN 

PLAIN AND SIMPLE LANGUAGE^ 

EXPRESSLY CALCULATED 

FOR POPULAR USE. 



NEW HAVEN: 

PUBLISHED BY S. BABCOCE- 

1842. 



"SB 4 05" 

■ 3'fe 



ENTERED, 

acdordtng to the act of congress, in the year 1S42, 

BY S. BABCOCK, 

N THE OFFICE OF THE CLERK OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF 

COxNNECTICUT. 

Transfer 
Sntlniiiers School Llby. 
28, 1931 






(- PREFACE 



I HAVE been induced to compile this little work from hearing 
many of my companions regret that no single book contained 
a sufficiently condensed and general account of the business 
of a Flower Garden, " We require," they said, " a work 
in a small compass, which will enable us to become our own 
gardener: we wish to know how to set about every thing 
ourselves, without expense, without being deluged with 
Latin words and technical terms, and without being obliged 
to pick our way through multiplied publications, redolent of 
descriptions, and not always particularly lucid. We require 
a practical work, telling us of useful flowers, simple modes 
of rearing them, simply expressed, and free from lists of 
plants and roots which require expensive methods of preser- 
vation. Some of us have gardens, but we cannot afford a 
gardener : we like flowers, but we cannot attempt to take 
more than common pains to raise them. We require to 
know the hardiest flowers, and to comprehend the genera! 
business of the garden, undisturbed by fear of failure, and 
at the most economical scale of expense. Who will write us 
such a book?" 

1* 



IV PREFACE. 

I have endeavored to meet tlieir views : and my plan of 
Floriculture may be carried into effect by any lady who can 
eommand the services of an old man, a woman, or a stout 
boy. I have omitted the names of all tender plants ; and 
I have given a chapter to each class of plants, in language as 
plain as the subject would allow. I have avoided technical- 
ity; and I have endeavored to execute my task with a due 
respect to economy, simplicity, and arrangement. I dedi- 
cate my work to all of my own sex who delight in flowers, 
and yet cannot allow themselves to enter into great expense 
iu their cultivation. 

L. JOHNSON. 



CONTENTS 



INTRODUCTION. 

Pleasures of Gardening — How conducive to health — Early 
taste for Gardening in England — Pleasure-gardens at 
Theobalds — Gardening for Ladies - - page 9 — 12 

CHAPTER I. 

GENERAL REMARKS. 

Situation for a Flower-garden — On improving the Soil — 
Aspect and choice of Flowers— Monthly Roses — Rustic 
Stages — Garden Tools, and Working Dress — India-rubber 
Shoes indispensable . . - . . 13 — 18 

CHAPTER II. 

LAYING OUT. 

Arrangement of Plants — Root-houses — Annuals— Biennials 
— Perennials — Planting out Beds — Amelioration of Soils — 
Monthly Lists of Flowers — Destructive habits of Hares 
and Rabbits, Snails, Earwigs, — Mildew, and Blight — Neat- 
ness and order indispensable in a well-kept Garden- 
Spring Plants — List of Perennials - - 19 — 39 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER III. 



BULBS AND PERENNIALS. 



Transplanting Bulbs — Advantage of Salt Manures — Best 
arrangement for choice Bulbs — Select Lists — Fibrous- 
rooted Flowers — Biennial — Their propagation — Protec- 
tion necessary page 40 — 62 

CHAPTER IV. 



Sowing and gathering Seed — Training and trimming Plants 
— List of Annuals 63—70 

CHAPTER V. 

EOSES AND JASMINES. 

Poetry of Flowers — Varieties of Roses — Pyramids — Climb- 
ing varieties — Insects injurious to the Rose — List of Roses 
— Luxuriant appearance of the Jasmine — Devices for dis- 
playing its beauty 71 — 80 

CHAPTER VI. 

SHRUBS AND EVERGREENS. 

On Planting — Distance between each — Various modes of 
propagating— List of best Garden Sorts — Pruning 81 — 88 

CHAPTER VII. 

MONTHLY NOTICES. 

Recapitulation of Work to be done in each Month 89 — 95 



CONTENTS. Vll- 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 

Calendar for the Southern states - - page 96—100 
CHAPTER IX. 

VEGETABLE AND FLOWER GARDEN. 

Calendar for the Northern states - - - 105 — 110 
CHAPTER X. 

MANAGEMENT OF PLANTS IN ROOMS. 

Hints— Want of proper hght and air — Injudicious watering — 

Extraneous matter collected on the leaves — Bulbs 111 — 113 

CHAPTER XI. 

flora's revealings. 

Language of Flowers . - . . . 114 — 181 

CHAPTER XII. 

Planting — Gathering and Preservation of Seeds - 119—132 

CHAPTER Xm. 

THE WEATHER. 

Clouds— Winds— Mists— Signs of rain, &c. • 133—136 
CHAPTER XIV. 

BOTANICAL EXPLANATIONS 

Flowers— Inflorescence, or manner of Flowering — Classes 
and orders — Poisonous plants — To preserve Flowers and 
Plants -.-...., 137-142 



INTRODUCTION. 



It has been well remarked, that a garden affords 
the purest of human pleasures. The study of 
Nature is interesting in all her manifold combina- 
tions: in her wildest attitudes, and in her artful 
graces. The mind is amused, charmed, and aston- 
ished in turn, with contemplating her inexhausti- 
ble display ; and we worship the God who crea- 
ted such pure and simple blessings for his crea- 
tures. These blessings are open to all degrees 
and conditions of men. Nature is not a boon 
bestowed upon the high-born, or purchased by 
the wealthy at a kingTy price. The poor, the 
blind, the halt, and the diseased, enjoy her beauty, 
and derive benefit from her study. Every cottager 
enjoys the little garden which furnishes his table 
with comforts, and his mind with grateful feel- 
ings, if that mind is susceptible of religious im- 
pressions. He contemplates the gracious Provi- 
dence which has bestowed such means of enjoy- 
ment upon him, as the Father whose all-seeing 
eye provides for the lowliest of his children ; and 
who has placed the " purest of human pleasures" 
within the reach of all who are not too blind to 
behold his mercy. With this blessed view before 
his mental sight, the cottager cultivates his little 
2 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

liomestead. Tlie flowers and fruits of the earth 
bud, bloom, and decay in their season, but Nature 
again performs her deputed mission, and spring 
succeeds the dreary winter with renewed beauty 
and two-fold increase. Health accompanies sim- 
ple and natural pleasures. The culture of the 
ground affords a vast and interminable field of 
observation, in which the mind ranges with sin- 
gular pleasure, though the body travels not. It 
surrounds home wdth an unceasing interest ; do- 
mestic scenes become endeared to the eye and 
mind ; worldly cares recede ; and we may truly 
say — 

" Foriis kind Nature wakes her genial power, 
Suckles each herb, and spreads out every flower! 
Annual for us, the grape, the rose, renew 
The juice nectarious, and the balmy dew : 
For us, the mine a thousand treasures brings ; 
For us, health gushes from a thousand springs." 

Eth. ep. i, ver. 129, 

The taste for gardening in England, began to 
display itself in the reign of Edward III., in whose 
time the first work on the subject was composed by 
Walter de Henly. Flower-gardening followed 
slowly in its train. The learned Linacre, who 
died in 1524, introduced the damask rose from 
Italy into England. King James I. of Scotland, 
w^hen a prisoner in Windsor Castle, thus describes 
its " most faire" garden : — 

" Now was there maide fast by the towris wall. 
A garden taire, and in the corneris set 
An herbere green, with wandis long and small 
Railit about, and so with treeis set 
Was all the place., and hawthorn hedges knet, 
That lyte was now, walking there forbye, 
Tha,t might within scarce any wight espie. 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

So thick the bowis and the leves grene 

Berchndit all, the alleyes all that there were ; 

Aud myddis every herbere might be seue 
The scharpe grene swete junipere 
Growing so fair, with branches here and there, 
That, as it seymt to a lyfe without, 
The bowis spred the herbere all about." 

The Qiiair. 

Henry VIIL ordered the formation of his gar- 
den at Nonsuch about the year 1509, and Leland 
says it was a " Nonpareil." Hentyner assures us 
of its perfect beauty, describing one of its marble 
basins as being set round with " lilac trees, which 
trees bear no fruit, but only a pleasant smell." 

The pleasure-gardens at Theobalds, the seat of 
Lord Burleigh, were a unique, according to the 
report of Lyson. In it were nine knots exqui- 
sitely made, one of which was set forth in likeness 
of the king's arms. " One might walk two myle 
in the walks before he came to an end." 

Queen Elizabeth was extremely fond of flowers, 
and her taste ever influenced that of her court. 
Gilliflowers, carnations, tulips, Provence and musk 
roses, were brought to England in her reign. 

William III. loved a pleasaunce or pleasure- 
garden; but he introduced the Dutch fashion of 
laying them out, which is still horrible in our eyes. 
His Queen superintended in person all her ar- 
rangements in the flower-garden, — an amusement 
particularly delightful to her. In those days, 
" knottes and mazes" were no longer the pride of a 
parterre, with a due allowance of " pleasant and 
fair fishponds." 

Queen Anne remodelled the gardens at Kensing- 
ton, and did away with the Dutch inventions. 
Hampton Court was also laid out in a more perfect 
state in her reign, under the direction of Wise. 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

Since that period, flower-gardening has progress- 
ed rapidly ; and the amusement of floriculture has 
become the dominant passion of the ladies of Great 
Britain. It is a passion most blessed in its efl'ects, 
considered as an amusement or a benefit. Nothing 
humanizes and adorns the female mind more surely 
than a taste for ornamental gardening. It compels 
the reason to act, and the judgment to observe ; it 
is favorable to meditation of the most serious kind ; 
it exercises the fancy in harmless and elegant oc- 
cupation, and braces the system by its healthful 
tendency. A flower-garden, to the young and sin- 
gle of my sex, acts upon the heart and affections 
as a nursery acts upon the matronly feelings. It 
attaches them to their home ; it throws a powerful 
charm over the spot dedicated to such deeply inter- 
esting employment ; and it lures them from dwell- 
ing too deeply upon the unavoidable disappoint- 
ments and trials of life, which sooner or later dis- 
turb and disquiet the heart. 

An amusement which kings and princes have 
stamped with dignity, and which has afforded them 
recreation under the toils of government, must be- 
come for ever venerated, and will be sought for by 
every elegant as well as by every scientific mind. 
Floriculture ranges itself under the head of female 
accomplishments in these our days; and we turn 
with pity from the spirit which will not find in her 
" garden of roses" the simplest and purest of 
pleasures. 



13 



CHAPTER I. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



In the laying out of a garden, the soil and situation 
must be considered as much as the nature of the 
ground will admit. Let no lady, however, despair 
of being able to raise fine flowers upon any soil, 
providing the sun is not too much excluded, for the 
rays of the sun are the vital principle of existence 
to all vegetation. The too powerful rays can be 
warded ofl' by the arts of invention, but we have 
yet no substitute for that glorious orb. Unless its 
warm and forcing influence is allowed to extend 
over the surface of the garden, all flowers wither, 
languish, and die. Sun and air are the lungs and 
heart of flowers. A lady will be rewarded for her 
trouble in making her parterre in the country ; but 
in large towns, under the influence of coal smoke, 
shade, and gloom, her lot will be constant disap- 
pointment. She can only hope to keep a few con- 
sumptive geraniums languishing through the sum- 
mer months, to die in October, and show the deso- 
lating view of rows of pots containing blackened 
and dusty stems. 

Many soils which are harsh or arid, are suscep- 
tible of improvement by a little pains. Thus, a 
stiff clay, by digging well and leaving it to become 
pulverized by the action of the frost, and then mix- 
2* 



14 IMPROVEMENT OF SOILS. 

ing plenty of ashes with it, becomes a fine mould, 
which I have ever found most excellent for all 
flowers of the hardier, kind. The black soil is the 
richest in itself, and requires no assistance beyond 
changing it about a foot in depth every three years, 
as a flower-garden requires renewing, if a lady ex- 
pects a succession of handsome flowers. The 
ground should be well dug the latter end of Sep- 
tember or October, or even in November, and if the 
soil is not sufficiently fine, let it be dug over a se- 
cond or third time, and neatly raked with a very 
fine-toothed rake. 

Stony ground requires riddling well, and great 
care must be taken to keep it neal by picking up 
the little stones which constantly force themselves 
to the surface after rains. Nothing is so unbe- 
coming as w^eeds and stones in parterres, where 
the eye seeks flowers and neatness. 

Almost every plant loves sand; and if that can 
be procured, it enriches and nourishes the soil, 
especially for bulbs, pinks, carnations, auriculas, 
hyacinths, &c. Let it be mixed in the proportion 
of a third part to the whole. 

If dead leaves are swept into a mound every 
autumn, and the soap suds, brine, &c. of the house 
be thrown upon it, the mass will quickly decora- 
pose, and become available the following year. It 
makes an admirable compost for auriculas, &c., 
mixed with garden or other mould. 

If the ground be a gravelly soil, the flower-gar- 
den should not slope, for stony ground requires all 
the moisture you can give it, while the sloping sit- 
uation would increase the heat and dryness. A 
moist earth, on the contrary, would be improved by 
being sloped towards the east or west. 



ASPECT FOR FLOWERS. 15 

The south is not so proper for flowers, as a glar- 
ing sun withers the tender flowers ; but the north 
must be carefully avoided, and shut out by a laurel 
hedge, a wall, or any rural fence garnished with 
hardy creepers, or monthly roses, which make a 
gay and agreeable defence. Monthly roses are in- 
valuable as auxiliaries of all kinds. They will 
grow in any soil, and bloom through the winter 
months, always giving a delicate fragrance, and 
smiling even in the snow. Monthly roses will 
ever be the florist's delight : they are the hardiest, 
most delicate-looking, and greenest-leaved of gar- 
den productions ; they give no trouble, and speedi- 
ly form a beautiful screen against any offensive ob- 
ject. No flower-garden should exist without abun- 
dance of monthly roses. 

It has often been a disputed point whether flow- 
er-gardens should be intersected with gravel walks 
or with grass plots. This must be left entirely to 
the taste and means of the party forming a garden. 
Lawn is as wet and melancholy in the winter 
months, as it is beautiful and desirable in summer ; 
and it requres great care and attention in mowing 
and rolling, and trimming round the border. Gravel 
walks have this advantage : the first trouble is the 
last. They will only require an old woman's or a 
child's assistance in keeping them free from weeds ; 
and a lady has not the same fears of taking cold, 
or getting wet in her feet, during the rains of au- 
tumn and spring. 

Many females are unequal to the fatigue of bend- 
ing down to flowers, and particularly object to the 
stooping posture. In this case, ingenuity alone is 
required to raise the flowers to a convenient height ; 
and, by so doing, to increase the beauty and pic- 



16 RUSTIC STAGES. 

turesqiie appearance of the garden. Old barrels 
cut in half, tubs, pails, &c., neatly painted outside, 
or adorned with rural ornaments, and raised upon 
feet neatly carved, or mounds of earth, stand in 
lieu of richer materials, such as vases, parapet 
walls, and other expensive devices, which orna- 
ment the gardens of the wealthy. I have seen 
these humble materials shaped into forms as pleas- 
ing to the eye, and even more consonant to our 
damp climate, than marble vases. They never 
look green from time, and are renewed at a very 
trifling expense. A few pounds of nails and the 
imbarked thinnings from fir plantations, are the 
sole requisites towards forming any device which a 
tasteful fancy can dictate ; and a little green paint 
adds beauty and durability when the bark falls 
from the wood it protects. I have seen fir balls 
nailed on to these forms in tasteful patterns ; and 
creepers being allowed to fall gracefully over the 
brims, give a remarkably pleasing and varied ap- 
pearance to the parterre. 

Where mould is not easily to be procured — as, 
for instance, in towns — the tubs or receptacles 
may be half filled with any kind of rubble, only 
space must be left to allow of two feet of fine 
mould at the top, which is quite sufficient for bulb- 
ous roots, creepers, &c. These receptacles have 
one powerful advantage over ground plots : they 
can be moved under sheds, or into outhouses, 
during the heavy rains or frosts of winter ; and 
thereby enable a lady to preserve the more delicate 
flowers, which would deteriorate by constant ex- 
posure to inclement weather. 

A lady requires peculiar tools for her light work. 
She should possess a light spade ; two rakes, one 



ladies' garden tools. 17 

with very fine teeth, and the other a size larger, 
for cleaning the walks when they are raked, and 
for raking the larger stones from the garden bor- 
ders. A light garden fork is very necessary to 
take up bulbous or other roots with, as the spade 
would wound and injure them, whereas they pass 
safely through the interstices of the fork or prong. 
A watering-pot is indispensable, and a hoe. Two 
trowels are likewise necessary : one should be a 
tolerable size, to transplant perennial and biennial 
flower roots ; the other should be pointed and small, 
to transplant the more delicate roots of anemones, 
bulbs, &c. 

The pruning-knife must be always sharp, and, in 
shape it should bend a little inwards, to facilitate 
cutting away straggling or dead shoots, branches, 
&;c. The " avroncator," lately so much in request, 
is an admirable instrument; but it is expensive, 
and of most importance in shrubberies, where 
heavy branches are to be cut away. The Sieur 
Louis d'Auxerre, who wrote a work upon garden- 
ing in 1706, has a sketch of the avroncator of the 
present day, which he designates as caterpillar 
shears. 

A light pair of shears, kept always in good 
order, is necessary to keep privet or laurel hedges 
properly clipped ; and a stout, deep basket must be 
deposited in the tool-shed, to contain the weeds 
and clippings. These a,re the only tools absolute- 
ly essential to a lady's garden. I have seen a great 
variety decorating the wall of an amateur tool- 
house, but they must have been intended for show, 
not for use. A real artiste, in whatever profession 
she may engage, will only encumber herself with 
.essentials. All else is superfluous. 



18 ladies' working dress. 

I have reserved two especially necessary recom- 
inenclations to the last, being comforts independent 
of the tool-house. Every lady should be furnished 
with a gardening apron, composed of stout Hol- 
land, with ample pockets to contain her pruning- 
knife, a small, stout hammer, a ball of string, and 
a few nails and snippings of cloth. Have nothing 
to do with scissors : they are excellent in the work- 
room, but dangerous in a flower garden, as they 
wrench and wound the stems of flowers. The 
knife cuts slanting, which is the proper way of 
taking off slips ; and the knife is sufficient .for all 
the purposes of a flower garden, even for cutting 
string. 

The second article which I pronounce to be in- 
dispensable, is a pair of India rubber shoes, or the 
wooden high-heeled shoes called " sabots" by the 
French. In these protections, a lady may indulge 
her passion for flowers at all seasons, without risk 
of rheumatism or chills, providing it does not 
actually rain or snow ; and the cheering influence 
of the fresh air, combined with a favorite amuse- 
ment, must ever operate beneficially on the mind 
and body in every season of the year. 



19 



CHAPTER II 



ON LAYING OUT. 



There are many modes of adorning a small piece 
of ground, so as to contain gay flowers and plants, 
and appear double its real size. By covering every 
wall or palisade with monthly roses and creepers of 
every kind, no space is lost, and unsightly objects 
even contribute to the general efl"ect of a " Plais- 
aunce." The larger flowers, such as hollyhocks, 
sunflowers, &c., look to the best advantage as a 
back ground, either planted in clumps, or arranged 
singly. Scarlet lychnis, campanula, or any second- 
sized flowers, may range themselves below, and so 
in graduated order, till the eye reposes upon a fore- 
ground of pansies, auriculas, polyanthuses, and in- 
numerable humbler beauties. Thus all are seen in 
their order, and present a mass of superb coloring 
to the observer, none interfering with the other. 
The hollyhock does not shroud the lowly pansy 
from displaying its bright tints of yellow and pur- 
ple ; neither can the sturdy and gaudy sunflower 
hide the modest double violet or smartly clad ane- 
mone from observation. Each flower is by this 
mode of planting distinctly seen, and each con- 
tributes its beauty and its scent, by receiving the 
beams of the sun in equal proportions. 

If the trunk of a tree stands tolerably free from 
deep overshadowing branches, twine the creeping 



20 THE ROOT HOUSE. 

rose, tlie late honeysuckle, or the everlasting pea 
round its stem, that every inch of ground may be- 
come available. The tall, naked stem of the young 
ash looks well, festooned with roses and honey- 
suckles. Wherever creeping flowering plants can 
live, let them adorn every nook and corner, stem, 
wall, and post: they are elegant in appearance^ 
and many of them, particularly clematis, are deli- 
cious in fragrant scent. 

If flowers are planted in round or square plots^ 
the same rule applies in arranging them. The tall- 
est must be placed in the centre, but I recommend a 
lady to banish sunflowers and hollyhocks from her 
plots, and consign them to broad borders against a 
wall, or in clumps of three and three, as a screen 
against the norths or against any unsightly object. 
Their large roots draw so much nourishment from 
the ground, that the lesser plants suffer^ and the 
soil becomes quickly exhausted. Like gluttons, 
they should feed alone, or their companions will 
languish in starvation, and become impoverished. 
The wren cannot feed with the vulture. 

The south end or corner of a moderate flower 
garden should be fixed upon for the erection of a 
root house, which is not an expensive undertaking, 
and which forms a picturesque as well as a most 
useful appendage to a lady's parterre. Thinnings 
of plantations, which are every where procured at 
a very moderate charge, rudely shaped and nailed 
into any fancied form, may supply all that is need- 
ful to the little inclosure ; and a thatch of straw, 
rushes, or heather, will prove a sure defence to the 
roof and back. There, a lady may display her 
taste by the beauty of the flowers which she may 
train through the rural frame-work. There, the 
moss-rose, the jessamine, the honeysuckle, the con- 



CLASSES OF FLOWERS. 21 

volvulus, and many other bright and beautiful flow- 
ers, may escape and cluster around her, as she re- 
ceives rest and shelter within their graceful lattice- 
work. There, also, may be deposited the imple- 
ments of her vocation ; and during the severe 
weather, its warm precincts will protect the finer 
kinds of carnations, pinks, auriculas, &lc., which 
do not bear the heavy rains, or frost of lengthened 
duration, without injuring the plant. 

Flowers are divided into three classes : — an- 
nuals, biennials, and perennials. 

Annuals are those flowers which are raised fr^m 
seeds alone, in the spring, and which die in the 
autumn. They are again divided into three classes ; 
the tender and more curious kinds ; the less tender 
or hardier kinds ; and the hardiest and common 
kinds. 

Biennials are those flowers which are produced 
by seed, bloom the second year, and remain two 
years in perfection ; after which they gradually 
dwindle and die away. 

Some sorts, however, of the biennials, afford a 
continuation of plants by offsets, slips, and cuttings 
of the tops, and by layers and pipings, so that, 
though the parent flower dies, the species are per- 
petuated, particularly to continue curious double- 
flowered kinds, as for instance, double rockets, by 
root offsets, and cuttings of the young flower-stalks ; 
double wallflowers by slips of the small top shoots ; 
double sweet-williams by layers and pipings ; and 
carnations by layers. 

Perennials are those flowers which continue 
many years, and are propagated by root offsets, 
suckers, parting roots, &c., as will be more fully 
particularised under the head of Perennials. 
3 



22 PLANTING OF BEDS. 

It has been a debated point among florists, wheth- 
er plots or 'baskets should be devoted eachtoapar- 
ticidar variety of flower, or receive flowers of dif- 
ferent kinds, flowering at separate seasons. Thus, 
many ladies set apart one plot of ground for ane- 
mones only — another plot receives only pansies, 
and so on. There is much to be said on both sides 
the question. 

If a plot of ground is devoted to one variety of 
flower only, you can give it the appropriate mould, 
and amuse your eye with its expanse of bright col- 
orino-. Nothing: is more beautiful than a bed of 
pansies, or a bed of the bright and glowing scarlet 
verbina ; nothing can exceed the gay and flaunty 
tints of a bed of tulips, or the rich hues of the lilac 
and the white petunia. A large space of garden 
allows its possessor to revel in separate beds of 
flowers, whose beauty is increased two-fold by 
masses ; and from that very space, the eye does 
not so easily discover the melancholy appearance 
of one or more plots exhibiting nothing but dark 
mould, and withered stems, arising from the earlier 
sorts being out of bloom. 

Sut in less spacious gardens, this gloomy and 
mournful vacuum must be avoided. Every border 
and plot of ground should exhibit a gay succession 
of flowers in bloom ; and that object can only be 
effected by a pretty equal distribution of flowers of 
early and late growth. As the May flowers droop, 
the June productions supply their place ; and these, 
again, are followed in succession, till the Golden 
rod and Michaelmas daisy announce the decadence 
of the parterre for the year. 

Yet every flower may be supplied with its favor- 
ite soil, with a little patience and observation. A 



MONTHLY LIST. 



23 



light soil suits all descriptions very well ; and I 
never yet found disappointment in any description 
of earth which was thoroughly well dug, and dress- 
ed yearly from the mound of accumulated leaves 
and soap-suds, alluded to in the first chapter. I 
particularly recommend a portion of sand mixed 
with the heap. All bulbs, carnations, pinks, auri- 
culas, ranunculuses, &c., love a mixture of sand. 
I know no flowers of the hardy class which reject 
it. Mix sand well into your borders and plots, and 
you will not fail to have handsome flowers. 

I subjoin a list of common flowers appertaining 
to each month, in order to fill the borders with one 
or more roots of each variety. I do not include 
the annuals. 



JANUARY, 

In this ir.onth the followinsf flowers are in blow; 



Single Anemones 
Winter Cyclamens 
Michaelmas Daisy 
Hepaticas 



Primroses 
Winter Hyacinth 
Narcissus of the East 
Christmas Rose 



FEBRUARY, 



Single Anemones 
Forward Anemones 
Persian Iris 
Spring Crocus 



I Single yellow Gilliflower 
j Single Liverwort 
j Winter Aconite 
I Hepaticas 



Bulbous Iris 
Anemones of all sorts 
Spring Cyclamens 
Liverwort of all sorts 
Daftbdils 
Crowfoots 
Spring Crocus 
Hyacinths of all sorts 



.Tonquils 

Yellow Gilliflower 
Narcissus of several kinds 
Forward Bears'-ears 
Forward Tulips 
Single Primroses of divers 
colors 



24 



MONTHLY LIST. 



Daisies 

Yellow Gilllflowers 

Narcissus of all sorts 

Forward Bears'-ears 

Spring Cyclamens 

Crocus, otherwise called SatF- 

ron-flowers 
Anemones of all sorts 
Iris 

Pansies 
Daffodils 



Double Liverworts 

Primroses 

Honeysuckles 

Tulips 

Hyacinths 

Single Jonquils 

Crown-Imperial 

Yellow Gilliflowers, double 

and single 
Pasque-Flowers 
March Violets 



Anemones 

Gilliflowers of all sorts 

Yellow Gilliflowers 

Columbines 

Asphodils 

Orange, or flame-color 

Lilies 
Cyanuses of all sorts 
Hyacinths 
Day Lilies 
Bastard Dittany 
Daisies 

Lily of the Valley 
Mountain Pinks 



MAY. 

Double Jacea, a sort of Lych- 
nis 

Pansies 

Peonies of all sorts 

Ranunculuses of all sorts 
ed I Some Irises; as those which 
we call the Bulbous Iris, 
and the Chamse-Iris 

Italian Spiderwort, a sort of 
Asphodil 

Poet's Pinks 

Backward Tulips 

Julians, otherwise called Eng- 
lish Gilliflowers 



Snap-dragons of all sorts 

Wild Tansies 

Pinks, otherwise called Lych- 

Irises [nises 

Roses 

Tuberoses 

Pansies 

Larkspur 

Great Daisies 



Climbers 

Cyanuses of all sorts 

Foxgloves of all sorts 

Mountain Lilies 

(iilliflowers of all sorts 

Monks'-hoods 

Pinks of all sorts 

Candy-tufts 

Poppies 



Jessamine 
Spanish Broom 
Basils 



JULY. 

Pinks of the Poets 

Bee-flowers 

Sea-hollies 



MONTHLY LIST. 



25 



Bell-flowers 

Indian Jacea 

Great Daisies 

Monks'-hoods 

Pinks 

Scabiuses 

Nigellas 

Cyclamens 

Lobel's Catch-flies 

Lilies of all sorts 

Apples of Love 

Comfrey 

Poppies 

Snap-dragons 

Double Marigolds 

Amaranth uses 

Hellebore 

Ox-eyes 



Foxgloves 

Wild Poppies 

Everlastings 

Roses 

Dittanies 

Bindweeds 

Lilies of St. Bruno 

Tricolors 

Squills 

Motherworts 

Climbers 

Oculus Christi 

Camomile 

Sunflowers 

Belvederes ♦ 

GiUiflowers of all sorts 

Thorn-apple 

Valerian 



Oculus Christi, otherwise 

called Starwort 
Belvederes 
Climbers of all sorts 
Apples of Love 
Marvels of Peru 
Pansies 
Ranunculuses 
Double Marigolds 
Candy-tufts 
Autumn Cyclamens 
Jessamines 
Sunflowers, vivacious and 

annual 



Indian Narcissus 

Foxgloves 

Cyclamens 

Passion-flowers 

Everlastings 

Tuberoses 

Monks'-hood 

Indian Pinks of aU the kinds 

Bindweed 

Passvelours 

Great Daisies 

White Bell-flower 

Autumnal Meadow Saflron 

GiUiflowers 



SEPTEMBER. 



Tricolors 
Love-apples 
Marvel of Peru 
Monks'-hood 
Narcissus of Portugal 
Snap-dragons 
Oculus Christi 



Amaryllis 

Autumnal Narcissus 
White Bell-flowers 
Indian Pinks 
Indian Roses 
Amaranthus 
Pansies 



3* 



26 



RABBITS A NUISANCE. 



Basils 
Belvederes 
Great Daisies 
Donhle Marigolds 
Montlily Roses 
Tuberoses 



Passion-jflower 

Autumnal Crocus 

Thorn-apple 

Carnations 

Ranunculuses planted in May 

Colchicunis 



Tricolors 
Oculns Christ! 
Snap-dragons 
ColchicTuns 
Autumn Crocus 
Autumnal Cyclamens 
Monks'-hood 
Indian Pinks 



Pansies that were sown in 

August 
Passion-tlower 
Passvelours 
Double Marigolds 
Some Pinks 
Amaryllis 
Autumnal Narcissus 



NOVEMBER. 



Snap-dragons 

Double and Shigle Gilliflow- 

ers 
Great Daisies 
Pansies sown in August 
Monthly Roses 



Double Violets 
Single Anemones of all sorts 
Winter Cyclamens 
Forward Hellebore 
Golden Rod 



Rabbits are an intolerable nuisance in a flower 
garden, and in some country places they abound 
most destructively. A light wire fence about two 
feet high, closely lattice-worked, or a net of the 
same height, carried round the garden, is a sure 
defence from these marauders. But where these 
conveniences are unattainable, there are other 
modes which answer the purpose, but they require 
a little trouble and patience. 

It is the well-known nature of Rabbits and 
Hares to dislike climbing or entangling their feet ; 
and very simple inventions deter them from at- 
tempting to gnaw the roots and hearts of flowers. 
They will not walk upon straw or ashes strewed 



SNAILS AND EARWIGS. 27 

thickly round any plant: they equally dislike a 
fence of sticks placed round a plot, with bits of 
white paper or card fastened to each stick ; or a 
string carried round the sticks a foot or two high. 
If they cannot creep under a slight fence, they 
never attempt to leap over it. If a stick is run into 
the ground close to a plant, and other sticks are 
slanted from the ground towards that centre, the 
plant will remain untouched, be the frost of ever so 
long duration. 

Snails are disagreeable intruders, but the follow- 
ing method is an exterminating war of short dura- 
tion : — 

Throw cabbage leaves upon your borders over 
night ; in the morning, early, you will find them 
covered underneath with snails, which have taken 
refuge there. Thus they are easily taken and 
destroyed. 

Earwigs are taken in numbers by hanging galli- 
pots, tubes, or any such receptacle, upon low sticks 
in the borders over night. In these they shelter 
themselves, and are consequently victimized in the 
morning. The gallipots, broken bottles, &c. should 
be placed upon the stick like a man's hat, that the 
vermin may ascend into them. 

Ants are very great enemies to flowers ; but I 
know no method of attacking them, except in their 
own strongholds, which I have always done with 
cruel intrepidity and success. My only plan was 
to lay open the little ant-hill, and pour boiling water 
upon the busy insects, which destroyed at once the 
commonwealth, and the eggs deposited within the 
mound. In some places ants are extremely large 



28 MILDEW AND BLIGHT, 

and abundant, and tliey quickly destroy the beauty 
of a flower, by attacking its root and heart.* 

Mildew and blight infest roses and honeysuckles. 
Soap-suds thrown over rose-bushes, heavy water- 
ings with tobacco-water, or the water in which po- 
tatoes have been boiled, is successful in a degree, 
but the best way is a very troublesome one to per- 
severe in. Pinch every leaf well which curls up, 
by which you may know a small maggot is depos- 
ited therein. By so doing you destroy the germ of 
a thousand little monsters. 

Mildew and blight come from the east; there- 
fore honeysuckles should be sheltered from that 
aspect ; for, as they rise and spread widely, they 
are not so manageable as a rose-bush. A mass of 
luxuriant honeysuckles is beautiful to the eye and 
delicious in fragrance ; but covered with mildew, it 
is a blackened and miserable object. Mildew, for- 
tunately, does not make its appearance every 
spring ; but once in four or five years it comes as 
a plague, to desolate the garden. A great deal 
may be raked away, if taken off as soon as it 
spreads its cobweb over these lovely flowers ; but 
it should be done without delay. 

I cannot lay too great stress upon the neatness in 
which a lady's garden should be kept. If it is not 
beautifully neat, it is nothing. For this reason, 
keep every plaat distinct in the flower-beds ; let 
every tall flower be well staked, that the wind may 



■^ The Emperor Pagonatus, who wrote a treatise upon 
agriculture, assures us, that to clear a garden of ants, we 
should burn empty snail shells with storax wood, and throw 
the ashes upon the ant-hills, which obliges them to remove. 
I never tried this method. 



DEFINITION OF TERMS. 29 

not blow it prostrate ; rake away dead leaves from 
the beds, and trim every flower-root from discolored 
leaves, weeds, &c. ; remove all weeds and stones 
the moment they appear, and clear away decaying 
stems, which are so littering and offensive to the 
eye. There is always some employment of this 
kind for every week in the year. 

Old iron rods, both large and small, are to be 
procured cheap at the ironmongers. These old 
rusty rods, painted green, or lead color, are excel- 
lent stakes for supporting flowers, and do not wear 
out. The slighter rods are very firm, upright sup- 
porters for Carnations, Pinks, &c., while the taller 
and larger rods are the firmest and best poles for 
hollyhocks, sunflowers, and the larger class of 
plants. Fix the flower stem to its stake with string, 
or the tape of the bass matting, soaked in water to 
prevent its cracking, and tie it sufficiently tight to 
prevent the wind tearing it from its position. Tie 
the large stems in three places for security. 

The term Deciduous, applied to shrubs, signifies 
that they shed their leaves every winter. 

Herbaceous plants, signify those plants whose 
roots are not woody, such as stocks, wallflowers, 
&c. &c. 

Fibrous-rooted plants, are those whose roots 
shoot out small fibres, such as Polyanthuses, vio- 
lets, &c. 

Tuberous-rooted plants, signify those roots which 
form and grow into little tubes, such as Anemones, 
Ranunculuses, &c. 



30 



PERENNIALS. 



Perennials are flowers of many years' duration ; 
and they multiply themselves most abundantly by 
suckers, offsets, parting the roots, &c. They re- 
quire little trouble beyond taking care to renew the 
soil every year or two by a somewhat plentiful sup- 
ply from the compost heap ; and by separating the 
offsets, and parting the roots in autumn, to strength- 
en the mother plant. When the flowers are past 
and the stems have decayed, then the operation may 
take place. Choose a showery day for transplant- 
ing the roots, or give them a moderate watering to 
fix them in their fresh places. When you trans- 
plant a flower root, dig a hole with your trowel suf- 
ficiently large to give the fibres room to lay freely 
and evenly in the ground. 

I have, throughout my little work, laid great 
stress upon possessing a heap of compost, ready to 
apply to roots and shrubs every spring and autumn. 
Wherever the soil is good, the flowers will bloom 
handsomely ; and no lady will be disappointed of 
that pleasure, if a compost heap forms one essen- 
tial, in a hidden corner of the flower garden. If 
you raise your perennials from seed, sow it in the 
last week in March, in a bed of light earth, in the 
open ground. Let the bed be in a genial, warm sit- 
uation, and divide it into small compartments ; a 
compartment for each sort of seed. 

Sow the seed thin, — and rake or break the earth 
over them finely. Let the larger seed be sown 
half an inch deep, and the smaller seed a quarter of 
an inch. Water the beds in dry weather often with 
a watering pot, not a jug. The rose of the water- 



CARNATIONS AND PINKS. 31 

ing pot distributes the water equally among the 
seedlings ; whereas, water dashed upon them from 
a jug falls in masses, and forms holes in the light 
earth, besides prostrating the delicate seedling. 

About the end of May, the seedlings will be fit 
to remove into another nursery bed, to gain strength 
till October ; or be planted at once where they are 
to remain. Put the plants six inches apart, and 
water them moderately, to settle the earth about 
their roots. 

But it is rarely required to sow seed for perennial 
plants, — they multiply so. vigorously and quickly of 
themselves, by offsets ; and cuttings may be made 
of the flower stalks in May and June in profusion. 

The double Scarlet lychnis, and those plants 
which rise with firm flower stems, make excellent 
cuttings, and grow freely Avhen planted in moist 
weather. Double Rockets, Lychnidea, and many 
others succeed well. 

Carnation and pink seedlings must be taken great 
care of. They will be ready to plant out about 
the middle of June, and as innumerable varieties 
spring from sowing seed, they should be planted 
carefully in a bed by themselves six inches asun- 
der, and they will flower the following year, when 
you can choose the colors you most approve. Car- 
nations properly rank under the head of biennials ; 
but pinks are strictly perennial plants, and much 
has been written upon this hardy and beautiful 
flower. It comes originally from a temperate cli- 
mate, therefore the pink loves shade ; the fervid 
sunbeams cause its flowers to languish and droop. 
You may give them an eastern aspect. 

Be careful to watch pinks when they are bud- 
ding, and do not allow two buds to grow side by 



32 QUALITIES OF PINKS. 

side. Pinch off the smaller bud, which would 
only weaken its companion. Keep the plants free 
from decayed leaves, and gently stir the earth round 
them occasionally with your small trowel. This 
operation refreshes them. Stake them neatly, that 
they may not fall prostrate after rain. 

If you wish to preserve any particular pink, let 
it grow in a pot, or upon a raised platform, that it 
may be placed beyond the reach of hares, rabbits, 
or poultry, and be more easily sheltered from long 
and severe frost or rains in winter, and from the 
dry heats in summer, either of which destroys the 
beauty of the flower. The pots can be sunk in the 
ground in fine weather. Do not hide your pinks 
among larger flowers; let them be distinctly seen. 
If you water pinks too munh, their roots become rot- 
ten ; and if you suffer them to be too dry, they be- 
come diseased. Beware of extremes. The best 
rule is to keep them just moist. A fine pink should 
not have sharp-pointed flower leaves ; they should 
be round and even at their edges, and the colors 
should be well defined, not running one into the 
other. The flower should be large ; it should pos- 
sess a great many leaves, and form a sort of dome. 
Piping and slipping is the most expeditious mode 
of propagating plants from any selected pink. 

Pansies, violets, &c. are very easily propagated 
by parting the roots when the flowers are past. 
Pansies are very beautiful flowers ; and cuttings of 
their young shoots will grow very freely if kept 
moist and shaded for some little time. By refresh- 
ing the soil every year, you insure large flowers. 
Pansies and violets bloom early in the spring. 

Hepaticas must be parted like violets. They ap- 
pear so very early in the year, that no garden should 



SPRING FLOWERS* 33 

exist without these gay and modest flowers. The 
leaves appear after the flower has past away. 

The Polyanthus blooms among the early tribe. 
In planting this flower, be careful to insert the roots 
deep in the soil, so that the leaves may rest upon 
it, for the roots are produced high upon the stem, 
and those roots must be enabled to shoot into the 
soil. The polyanthus, like almost every other 
flower, loves a good soil, with a mixture of sand. 

In dividing these fibrous-rooted perennial plants, 
take only the strong off'sets, with plenty of fibres 
attached to them. 

Polyanthuses, auriculas, double daisies, double 
camomile, London pride, violets, hepaticas, thrift, 
primroses, gentianella, &c., succeed well, taken up 
and divided in September, for they will all have 
done flowering by that time. Indeed, all perennial 
fibrous-rooted plants may be taken up in October, 
to have their roots parted, and the soil refreshed 
round them. 

Peonies, and all knob-rooted plants, should be 
taken up in October, to part their roots and trans- 
plant them to their intended positions. 

The saxifrage has very small roots, which are 
apt to be lost in borders, if not very carefully look- 
ed after. Like the anemone, &c., sift the earth 
well for them. 

Dahlias require a word or two upon their cul- 
ture. They love sand, therefore allow them plenty 
of it, but do not put manure to their roots, which 
throws them into luxuriant leaf and stem, to the 
deterioration of the flower. Peat mould is good, if 
you can obtain it, to mix with the sand, as it assists 
the flower in developing stripes and spots. Train 
each plant upright, upon one stem only, and give 
4 



34 SPRING FLOWERS. 

it a strong stake to support its weight, which soon 
succumbs under gusts of wind. Plant them in 
open and airy places. When the stems become 
black, take them up, — separate the roots, and 
plunge them into a box of ashes, barley chaff, or 
sand, to protect them through the winter. Plant 
them out in May. 

Dahlias grow from cuttings, which require care 
and a hot-bed to do well, but they multiply them- 
selves very sufficiently without that trouble. 

It is a great perfection to see every tall plant in a 
flower-garden well staked, and trimmed from dead, 
straggling shoots. Let no branches trail upon the 
border, but, as in the case of Chrysanthemums, cut 
away the lowest branches or shoots, that each plant 
may stand erect and neat in its order, without in- 
termeddlino- in its neighbor's concerns. There will 
be plenty of employment all through the summer in 
watching the growth of your plants, in cutting away 
decayed stems, and trimming oft' dead leaves. Let 
nothing remain in the flower's way after the bright- 
ness of its bloom has past by ; cut oft" the drooping 
flower before it runs to seed, which only tends to 
weaken the other flowers, and leave only the finest 
flower to produce seed on each plant. 

Perennials grow remarkably fine always in new- 
ly turned-up ground, but they gradually degenerate, 
if they are allowed to remain above two years with- 
out replacing the substance they have exhausted in 
the soil. Add every year to that substance, by lib- 
eral supplies from the compost heap. 

Be careful tO' multiply your supply of jasmines, 
honeysuckles, &c., by cuttings in their due season. 

I subjoin a list of the hardier sorts of fibrous- 
rooted Perennials, eligible to adorn a garden, from- 



HARDY PERENNIALS. 



35 



which my readers may stock their borders. At the 
end of my work, however, I shall add a long list of 
plants alphabetically arranged. 



LIST OF HARDY PERENNIALS. 



Aster, or Starwort 

Large blue Alpine 

Common Starwort, or Mi- 
chaelmas Daisy 

Early Pyrenean 

Blue Italian Starwort 

Catesby's Starwort 

Dwarf narrow-leaved Star- 
wort 

Midsummer Starwort 

Autumnal Wliite Starwort, 
with broad leaves 
Tripolian Starwort 

Divaricated-branched 

Virginian Starwort, with 
spiked blue flowers 

Early blue Starwort 

Rose Starwort 

Latest Starwort, large blue 
flowers 

New England Starwort 

Red flowering 
Apocynum, Dogsbane 

Red-flowering 

Orange-colored 

Syrian 
Arum, Italian large-veined 

leaf 
Asclepias, Swallow-wort 

White 

Yellow 
Astragalus, Milk-vetch 
Alysson, White 

Yellow 

Violet 
Borage, the Eastern 
Bachelor^ s Button 

Double red 



Double white 
Double ragged Robin 
Campanula, or Bell-flower 

Double blue 

Double white 

Double blue, and white 
nettle-leaved 
Caltha, double-flowered 

Marigold 
Cassia of Maryland 
Pinks, double pheasant's eye 

Dobson 

Deptford 

Cob white 

Red cob 

White stock 

Damask 

Mountain 

Matted 

Old man's head 

Painted lady 

Clove pink,and many other 
varieties 
Stock July flower, the Bromp- 
ton 

Double Scarlet Brompton 

Single scarlet 

Purple 

White Brompton 

Glueen stock 

Purple double 

Striped double 

Single of each sort 

Twickenham stock 
Lichnidca, early blue 

Spotted-stalked, with pur- 
ple spikes of flowers 

Virginia, with large umbels 



36 



HARDY PERENNIALS. 



Low trailing purple 

Carolina, with stiff shining 
leaves, and deeper pur- 
ple flowers 
Cyanus, broad-leaved 

Narrow-leaved 
Lychnis, or Campion 

Single scarlet lychnis 

Double scarlet lychnis 

Catchfly, double flowers 
Hepaticas, single white 

Single blue 

Single red 

Double red 

Double blue 
Lineria, toad flax 

Purple 

Yellow 
Bee Larkspur 
Fraxindla, white 

Red 
Gentiania. great yellow 
Gentianella, blue 
Globidaria, blue daisy 
Fox-glove, red 

White 

Iron-colored 
Perennial Sun-flower 

Double yellow and several 
other species 
Cyclamen, red 

White 
Goldy Locks 
Chelone, white 

Red 
Lily of the Valley, common 

Double-flowering 
Solomon's Seal, single 

Double 
Filapendula, or Dropwort 
Columbines, common blue 

Double red 
Double white 

Double striped 



Starry, double and single 
Early-flowering Canada 
Thalictrum, feathered colum- 
bines 
Pulsatilla, blue Pasque flower 
Orohus, bitter vetch 
Saxifrage, double white 
Thick leaved 
Purple 
Veronica, upright blue 
Dwarf blue 
Hungarian 
Blush 
Golden Rod, many species 
Valerian, red garden Valerian 

Wlute garden 
Kudbckia, American sun- 
flower 
Dwarf Virginia, with large 

yellow flowers 
Dwarf Carolina, with nar- 
row red reflexed petals, 
and purple florets 
Virginia, with yellow rays 

and red florets 
Tall yellow, with purple 
stalks, and heart-shaped 
leaves 
Taller, with yellow flowers 
and large five-lobed 
leaves, and those on the 
stalks single 
Tallest yellow, with nar- 
rower leaves, which are 
all of five lobes 
Pidmonaria, Lungwort 
Common 
American 
Monarda, purple 

Scarlet 
Ephemeron, Spider-wort, or 
flowers of a day 
White 
Blue 



HARDY PERENNIALS. 



37 



,,'acea, American knapweed 
Piimrose, double yellow 

Double scarlet 

White 
Polyanthus, many varieties 
Auriculas, many varieties 
Violets, double blue 

Double white 

Double red 

Russian 

Banksia 
Violet the major 
London pride, or None-so- 
pretty 
Day-lily, red 

Yellow 
Fumitory, the yellow 

White 

Bulbous-rooted 

American forked 
Aconite, Monk's-hood, or 
Wolf's-bane 

Blue monk's-hood 

Yellow 

White 

Wholesome wolf's-bane 
Winter Aconite 
Hellebore, or Bear's foot 

Common black hellebore 

Green-flowered 
White Hellebore 
Christmas Rose 
Geranium, Crane's-bill 

Bloody crane's-bill 

Blue 

Roman 

Bladder-cupped 
Daisies, common double red 
garden daisy 

White 

Double variegated 

Cock's-comb daisies, white 
and red 



Hen and chicken, white 
and red 
Dahlias, many varieties 
Peony, double red 
Double white 
Double purple 
Male, with large single 

flowers 
Sweet smelling Portugal 
Double rose-colored 
Silphium, bastard Chrysan- 
themum 
Iris, Fleur-de-lis, or flags 
The German violet colored 
Variegated, or Hungarian, 

purple and yellow 
Chalcedonian iris 
Greater Dalmatian iris 
There are several other 
varieties of Irises, all 
very hardy and very 
beautiful plants. 
Cardinal flowers, scarlet 

Blue 
Rocket, double white 
Balm of Gilead, sweet-scent- 
ed ; must be sheltered in 
winter. 
Everlasting Pea 
Eupatorium, several varieties 
Eryngo. blue 
White 

Mountain, purple and vio- 
let 
There are some other va- 
rieties. 
Snap Dragon, or Calf's snout 
Red 
White 
Variegated 
Moth Mullein 
Angelica 
Asphodelus, King's spear 



38 HARDY PERENNIALS. 

Lupins, perennial, blue-flow- | Large yellow-flowered 

ered Tradescantia, or Virginia spi- 

Ononis, Rest-har | dervvort 

The Saxifrage is propagated by cuttings and off- 
sets, which the roots produce abundantly. Take 
the offsets and plant them out in August. The 
double white saxifrage is a beautiful flower, and 
blooms early in the spring. The pyramidal saxi- 
frage is a very handsome decorative flower, but it 
must be planted in little clumps to make a showy 
appearance. 

October is the busy month for transplanting and 
removing the oflsets of all perennial and biennial 
plants. In this month every flower of summer has 
passed away, and the garden is free to receive all 
new arrangements in its future dispositions. Gold- 
en rod, Michaelmas daisies, everlasting sun-flower, 
and other branching plants, will require taking up 
every four years, to part the main root into separate 
plants, and replace them in the ground again. 
Peonies, lilies of the valley, fraxinellas, monk's- 
hood, flag-leaved irises, &c., must be increased or 
removed when required. All this is most effectu- 
ally done in October. 

In the same month, finish all that is to be effect- 
ed among the perennial tribe. Campanulas, lych- 
nises, polyanthuses, violets, aconites, cyclamens, 
gentianella, yellow gentian, double daisies, hepati- 
cas, saxifrage, &c., must be attended to, and prop- 
agated, by dividing the roots, before October closes. 
November is the season of fogs and severe frosts : 
if a lady is prudent, she will perform all these need- 
ful operations in October, and November will have 
no alarms for her. 

All the double-flowering plants, such as double 



HARDY PERENNIALS. 39 

sweet-william, double rockets, double scarlet lych- 
nis, &c., should be placed in sheltered situations in 
October, to weather out the storms of winter. 
Double flowers are very handsome, and deserve a 
little care. 

The most charming little perennial flower which 
can adorn a lady's garden, is the scarlet verbena, 
but it is very difficult to preserve through the winter. 
Its beauty, however, repays the care which may be 
bestowed upon it. This tender plant — the only 
really tender root w^hich I admit into my work — is 
not only desirable from its fine, full scarlet blos- 
soms, but it blooms from April to November. The 
scarlet verbena loves a rich, light, dry border or 
bed, in a sunny situation ; they delight also in rock- 
work, where they have been known to exist through 
the winter. Plant the roots about six inches apart 
in the middle of April, and keep pegging down the 
shoots as they throw themselves along the bed. A 
profusion of flowers and plants are produced by this 
means. A bed or border sloping to the south is 
the best situation for the scarlet verbena. 



40 



CHAPTER III. 



BULBS AND TUBEROUS-ROOTED FLOWERS — ■ 
PERENNIALS. 

I SHALL give the bulbous and tuberous-rooted flow» 
ers a chapter to themselves. They are the earliest 
treasures of the flower-garden, and deserve especial 
notice. There was a period when two hundred 
pounds was offered for a hyacinth root, and even 
the enormous sum of six hundred pounds was given 
for a Semper Angus I us tulip, by the Dutch tulip 
fanciers. But though a few florists are still par- 
ticularly nice with respect to their bulbs, the time 
is past for paying such splendid prices ; and such 
an inexhaustible variety offer themselves to our no- 
tice now, that we are somewhat puzzled in making 
a choice collection. Seed produces immense num- 
bers yearly, and an infinite variety of new colors 
in each species. The florist is lost in admiration 
of the magnificent blooms which meet the eye in 
every flower-garden which is carefully attended to. 
Bulbs love a mixture of garden soil and sand, 
well mixed, and dug about two spades deep to 
lighten it. Break the mould fine, and rake the sur- 
face even. Plant the bulbs four inches deep, and 
let them be six inches apart, placing the bulb with 
care into the dibbled hole, and pressing the earth 
gently round each. All bulbs should be replanted 
in September, and taken out of the ground when 



TRANSPLANTING BULBS. 41 

tliey have done flowering. When the leaves and 
stems decay, dig them neatly up, in dry weather, 
with your garden fork ; take the offsets carefully 
from the main root ; spread them out to dry on a 
mat, and put them in a cool, dry place to plant 
again in September. 

The common bulbs, such as Snowdrops, Crocuses, 
&c., may be left two or three years untouched; 
but at the end of that period take them up, to sepa- 
rate the offsets and small roots from the mother 
plants. You can replant them immediately, taking 
care to thin the clumps, and separate each root six 
inches from its neighbor, that they may rise healthy, 
and throw out fine blooms. 

Narcissuses, Jonquils, and Irises, may also re- 
main two years untouched ; but if annually taken 
up, they will flower finer, and for these reasons : 

By taking up your bulbs as soon as their leaves 
and stems decay, it not only allows you to separate 
the offsets, which weaken the parent bulb, but it 
prevents their receiving any damage from long 
drought, or the equally destructive moisture of 
heavy rains, which would set them growing again 
before their time, and exhaust them. The two or 
three months in which they are laid by contributes 
to their strength, by allowing them that period of 
complete rest. 

The autumn-flowering bulbs, such as the Colchi- 
cums, the Autumnal Crocus, the yellow Autumnal 
Narcissus, &c., should be taken up in May or early 
in June, when they are at rest. Transplant them 
now, if you wish to remove them ; part the ofisets, 
and plant them six inches apart. If you keep them 
out of the ground, put them in a dry, shady place 
till the middle of July or August, when you must 
plant them again, to blow in the autumn. 



42 PROPAGATION OF 

Be careful to take up bulbs as soon as the leaves 
decay. If they are incautiously left in the ground 
beyond that period, they begin to form the bud for 
the next year's flowers ; and the check of a re- 
moval would injure them. They might produce 
flowers in due time, but they would be weakly. 

The little offsets will not flower for a year or 
two. They may be consigned to a nursery-bed to 
remain for that time, in order to swell and strength- 
en by themselves. 

If yo.u wish to procure new varieties from seed, 
it must be sown in August. The healthiest flower- 
stalks should be chosen, and deposited in pots or 
boxes of fine light earth, for the convenience of re- 
moving under shelter in wet or frost. Keep the 
pots or boxes in the shade during the heats, but, as 
the cold weather advances, remove them to a warm 
sheltered spot. Litter will shelter them from the 
frost, if you cannot command any other covering. 
The plants will appear early the following May : 
they must be kept very clear from weeds, and be 
moderately watered in dry weather. These seed- 
lings must be transplanted every summer to be 
thinned, and placed farther apart from each other, 
till they blow, when they may be removed into the 
flower-beds. 

This method is troublesome, and requires pa- 
tience. Tulip seedlings are seven years before 
they flower, and a lady may find her patience se- 
verely tried in waiting for their blooms. Seven 
years is a large portion of human life. If you can 
persevere, however, you will be rewarded by beau- 
tiful varieties of now colors and stripes. 

Fine tulips should have six leaves, three on the 
outside and three on the inside, and the former 



BULBOUS PLANTS. 43 

should be broader than the latter. The stripes 
upon the tulip should also be defined and distinct, 
not mixing with the ground tints. 

Hyacinth seedlings are four years before they 
flower : this is not so harassing a period as the 
Tulip requires ; but every pleasure has its counter- 
balance. If you will have fine fiowers, you must 
wait for them. These bulbs love a sunny situation. 

The Orchis tribe prefer a moist ground and a 
northern aspect. Columella says, that when orchis 
bulbs are sown in autumn, they genninate and bear 
flowers in April. 

The Colchicums or narcissus are hardy bulbs, 
and will grow in any sort of ground ; only, the bet- 
ter the soil is, the finer they will flower. 

The Guernsey Lily and Belladonna will not 
thrive in the open ground, therefore it is needless 
to speak of those very splendid flowers. 

The Lily of the valley, though scarcely to be 
classed among the lily tribe, is a beautiful flower, 
and as fragrant as it is lovely. They must be mul- 
tiplied by dividing the roots, which should be part- 
ed with a knife, as they are very intricate : do this 
in December. Plant them three inches deep in 
the ground, and disturb them as little as you can 
help, as they do not like to be often moved. They 
are larger in their flowers when grown in the 
shade, but they are sweeter in perfume in the sun's 
full rays. Thin, broad leaves are sufiicient shelter 
to the flowers. 

All bulbs love salt: be careful, therefore, to throw 
a portion of common salt or brine upon your com- 
post heap. My cousin, Cuthbert W. Johnson, 
Esq., in his " Observations on the Employment of 
Salt," quotes a passage in a letter addressed to him 



44 SALT BIANURE 

by Mr. Thomas Hogg, the eminent florist, upon the 
advantages of salt in the cidtivation of flowers. I 
will transcribe it here : — 

" From the few experiments that I have tried with salt as a 
garden manure, I am fully prepared to bear testimony to its 
usefulness. In a treatise upon flowers, published about six 
years since, I remarked, that the application of salt, and its 
utility as a manure, was yet imperfectly understood. It is a 
matter of uncertainty, whether it acts directly as a manure, 
or only as a kind of spice or seasoning, thereby rendering 
the soil a more palatable food for plants. 

" The idea that first suggested itself to my mind, arose 
from contemplating the successful culture of hyacinths in 
Holland. This root, though not indigenous to the country, 
may be said to be completely naturalized in the neighborhood 
of Haerlem, where it grows luxuriantly in a deep, sandy, 
alluvial soil: yet one great cause of its free growth, I con- 
sidered, was owing to the saline atmosphere : this induced 
me to mix salt in the compost; and I am satisfied that no 
hyacinths will grow well at a distance from the sea without 
it. I am also of opinion, that the numerous bulbous tribe of 
Amaryllisses, especially those from the Cape of Good Hope, 
Ixias, Aliums, which include Onions, Garlic, Shalots, &c., 
Anemonies, various species of the Lily, Antholyza, Colchi- 
cum, Crinum, Cyclamens, Narcissus, Iris, Gladiolus, Ranun- 
culus, Scilla, and many others, should either have salt or sea 
sand in the mould used for them. 

" I invariably use salt as an ingredient in my compost for 
carnations; a plant which, like wheat, recpiires substantial 
soil, and all the strength and heat of the summer, to bring it 
to perfection; and I believe I might say, without boasting, 
that few excel me in blooming that tlower." 

Colchicums, the Autumnal Narcissus, Amaryllis, 
and the Autumn Crocus, should be planted in Au- 
gust, to blow in September and October. 

Replant all the bulbous tribe by the end of Octo- 
ber, at the latest. Choose a mild, dry day to put 
them in the ground, and let each bulb be six or nine 
inches distant from its companion. All bulbs be- 
come weak by being placed too closely together, 
the soil becoming soon exhausted. 



NECESSARY FOR BULBS. 



45 



Bulbs of the more choice varieties are better at- 
tended to if they can be placed in beds or compart- 
ments by themselves; for they are more easily 
sheltered from frost and rain when in a body. 
The eye, also, is more delighted by the beautiful 
variety en masse. Their favorite soil, too, can be 
composed and preserved for them more exclusively, 
unexhausted by the roots of larger plants around 
them. Some of the commoner sorts can be plant- 
ed out in patches, to add to the gay appearance of 
the borders, among the spring flowers. 

Martagons, orange lilies, and bulbs of tall growth, 
should never be planted among the smaller tribe ; 
their large bulbs would exhaust the soil, and weak- 
en the smaller flowers. They look very handsome 
in borders and plots, placed near or in their centre. 



LIST OF BULBOUS AND TUBEROUS-ROOTED FLOWERS. 



Amaryllis, comprising the au- 
tumnal yellow JNarcissus 

Spring ditto 
Crocus vernus, or spring-flow- 
ering crocus 

Common yellow 

Large yellow 

Yellow, with black stripes 

White 

White, with blue stripes 

Blue, with white stripes 

Deep blue 

Light blue 

White, with purple bottom 

Scotch, or black and white 
striped 

Cream-colored 
Autumnal flowering Crocus, 
of the following varie- 
ties : — 

Tiue saffron ciocus, with 



bluish flower and golden 
stigma, which is the saf- 
fron 

Common autumnal crocus, 
with deep blue flowers 

With light blue flowers 

Many fiowered 
Snowdrop, the small spring 
flowering 

Common single 

Double 
Leucojum, or great summer 
snowdrop 

Great summer snowdrop, 
with angular stalks; a 
foot high, and two or 
three ffowers in each 
sheath 

Taller great snowdrop, 
with many flowers 



46 



BULBOUS AND 



Ornithognlifm, or Star of 
Bethlehem 

Great white pyramidal, 
with narrow leaves 

White, with broadsword- 
shaped leaves spreading 
oia the ground 

Yellow 

Pyrenean, with whitish- 
green ilowers 

Star of Naples, with hang- 
ing flowers 

Umbeilated, producing its 
flowers in umbels, or 
spreading bmiches, at 
the top of the stalk 

Low yellow umbeilated 
Erythronium, dens canis, or 
dog's tooth 

Round-leaved, with red 
flowers 

Same, with white flowers 

The same, yellow 

Long narrow-leaved, with 
purple and with white 
flowers 

Grape hyacinth 

Purple 

Blue 

"White 

Musk hyacinth 

White 

Ash-colored 

Blue feathered hyacinth 

Purj le 

MusKy, or sweet-scented, 
with full purple flowers 

The same, with large pur- 
ple: and yellow flowers 

Great African Mascaria, 
w'th sulphur-colored 
flovver 
FritilU 'ia, chequered tulip I 
Early purple, variegated, | 
or rheqnorpd with white ' 



Black, chequered with yel- 
low spots 
Yellow, chequered with 

purple 
Dark purple, with yellow 
spots, and flowers grow- 
ing in an u'mbel 
Persian lily, with tall stalks, 
and dark purple flowers 
growii]g in a pyramid 
Branching Persian lily 
Corona Iiuperialis, crown im- 
perial, a species of Fri- 
tillaria 
Connnon red 
Counnon yellow 
Yellow-striped 
Sulphur-colored 
Large-flowering 
Double of each variety 
Crown upon crown, or 
with two whorls of 
flowers 
Triple crown upon crown, 
or with three tiers of 
flowers, one above an- 
other 
Gold-striped leaved 
Silver-striped leaved 
Tulip, early dwarf tulip 
Tall, or most common tulip 
Early, yellow and red 

striped 
White and red striped 
White and purple striped 
White and rose striped 
Tall, or late-flowering, with 
white bottoms, striped 
with brown 
White bottoms, striped with 

violet or black brown 
White bottoms, striped with 

red or vei inilion 
Yellow bottoms, striped 



TUBEROUS-ROOTED FLOWERS. 



47 



with different colors, 
called Bizarres 
DoulJle Tjclip, yellow and red 

White and red 
Gladiolus, corn flag, or sword 
lily, common, with sword 
shaped leaves, and a red- 
dish purple flower ran- 
ged on one side of the 
stalk 

The same, with white 
flowers 

Italian, with reddish flowers 
ranged on both sides of 
the stalk 

The same, with white 
flowers 

Great red of Byzantium 

Narrow js:rassy-leaved, and 
a flesh-colored flower, 
with channelled, long, 
narrow, four-angled 

leaves, and two bell- 
shaped flowers on the 
stalk 

Great Indian 
Anemone, wood anemone, 
with blue flowers 

White flowers 

Red flowers 

Double white 
Garden Double Anemone, with 
crimson flowers 

Purple 

Red 

Blue 

White 

Red and white striped 

Red, white, and purple 

Rose and white 

Blue, striped with white 
R-anunculus, Turkey, with a 
single stalk, and large 
double blood red flower 

Yellow-flowered 



Persian, with branching 
stalks, and large double 
flowers of innumerable 
varieties, of which there 
are, — 
Very double flowers 
Semi, or half double 
(The double are most beau- 
tiful, propagated by oflf- 
sets.) 
Pancratium, sea dafljodil 
Common white sea Narcis- 
sus, with many flowers 
in a sheath, and tongue- 
shaped leaves 
Sclavonian, with taller 
stems and many white 
flowers, and sword-sha- 
ped leaves 
Broad-leaved American, 
with large white flowers, 
eight or ten in a sheath 
Mexican, with two flowers 
Ceylon, with one flower 
Moly (Allium,) species of 
garlic, producing flowers 
Broad-leaved yellow 
Great broad-leaved, with 

lily flowers 
Broad-leaved, with white 
flowers in large round 
umbels 
Smaller white umbellated 
Purple 
Rose-colored 
Fumaria bullosa, or bulbous- 
rooted funiitory 
Greater purple 
Hollow-rooted 
American, with a forked 
flower 
Narcissus, or dafl'odil, com- 
mon double yellow daf- 
fodil 
Single yellow, with the 



48 



BULBOUS AND 



middle cup as long as the 
petals 
White, with yellow cups 
Double, with sevt^ral cups, 

one within another 
Common white narcissus, 

with single flowers 
Double white narcissus 
Incomparable, or great 
nonsuch, with double 
flowers 
With single flowers 
Hoop petticoat narcissus, 
or rush-leaved daffodil, 
with the middle cup 
larger than the petals,and 
very broad at the brim 
Daftbdil, with white reflex- 
ed petals, and golden 
cups 
White daflbdil, with purple 
cups 
Polyanthus Narcissus, having 
mriuy small flowers on a 
stalk, from the same 
sheath. Of this are the 
following varieties: — 
White, with wlrte cups 
Yellow, with yellow cups 
White, with yellow cups 
White, with orange cups 
W^hite, with sulphur-color- 
ed cups 
Yellow, wifh orange cups 
Yell'jw, with sulphur-color- 
ed cups 
With several intermediate 

varieties 
Autumnal narcissus 
Jonquil, common single 
Large single 
Common double 
Double, with large round 
roots 



Lilium, the lily, common 
white lily 

With spotted or striped 
flowers 

With double flowers 

With striped leaves 

White lily, with hanging or 
pendent flowers 

Common orange lily, with 
large single flowers 

With double flowers 

With striped leaves 

Fiery, bulb-bearing lily^ 
producing bulbs at the 
joints of the stalks 

Common narrow-leaved 

Great broad-leaved 

Many-flowered 

Hoary 

Martagon lily, sometimes 
called Turk's-cap, from 
the reflexed position of 
their flower- leaves. — 
There are many varie- 
ties^ and which diflfer 
from the other sorts of 
lilies in having the petals 
of their flowers reflexed, 
or turned backward. — 
The varieties are. 

Common red martagon, 
with very narrow sparsed 
leaves, or such as grow 
without order all over 
the flower stalk 

Double martagon 

White 

Double white 

White spotted 

Scarlet, with broad sparsed 
leaves 

Bright red, many-flowered, 
or pompony, with short, 
grassy, sparsed leaves 



TUBEROUS-ROOTED FLOWERS. 



49 



Reddish hairy martagon, 
with leaves growing in 
whorls round the stalk 

Great yellow, with pyra- 
midal flowers, spotted 

Purple, with dark spots, 
and broad leaves in 
whorls round the stalk, 
or most common Turk's 
cap 

White spotted Turk's cap 

Canada martagon, with yel- 
lowish large flowers spot- 
ted, and leaves in whorls 

Campscatense martagon, 
with erect bell-shaped 
flowers 

Philadelphia martagon, 
with two erect bright 
purple flowers 
Squills, sea onion, or lily hya- 
cinth, common lily hya- 
cinth, with a lily root 
and blue flower 

Peruvian, or broad-leaved 
hyacinth of Peru, with 
blue flowers 

With white flowers 

Early white starry hyacinth 

Blue 

Autumnal starry hyacinth 

Larger starry blue hyacinth 
of Byzantium 

Purple star-flower of Peru 

Itahau blue-spiked star- 
flower 
Asphodel lily, African blue, 

with a tuberous root 
Tuberose, or Indian tuberous 
hyacinth. It produces a 
small stem three or four 
feet high, adorned with 
many white flowers of 
great fragrance. 



The varieties are, — 

f^ine double tuberose 

Single tuberose 

Small-flowered 

Striped-leaved 
Iris bulbosa, or bulbous iris, 
Persian, with tliree erect 
blue petals called stand- 
ards, and three reflexed 
petals called falls, which 
are variegated, called 
Persian bulbous iris, with 
a variegated flower 

Common narrow-leaved 
bulbous iris, with a blue 
flower 

White 

Yellow 

Blue, with white falls 

Blue, with yellow ftills 

Greater broad-leaved bulb- 
ous iris, with a deep blue 
flower 

Bright purple 

Deep purple 

Variegated 

Great, with broad and al- 
most plain or flat leaves, 
with blue flowers 

Purple 

Of the above there are 
many intermediate varie- 
ties 
Hyacinth, eastern, w-ith large 
flowers. Of these there 
are many varieties, and 
of which there are in- 
numerable intermediate 
shades or tints of color. 

Of double sorts there are — 

Blues 

Purple blues 

Agatha blues 

Whites 



50 



BULBOUS AND 



Whitus, with yellow eyes 

Whites, with red eyes 

Whites, with violet or pur- 
ple eyes 

Whites, with rose-colorecl 
eyes 

Whites, with scarlet eyes 

Reds 

Incarnate, flesh or rose- 
coiored 

Of single sorts there are — 

Blues, of various shades, as 
above 

Whites 

Reds 

Rose-colored 

With many intermediate 
shades or varieties 

(MuscMYia,) or musk hya- 
cinth 

Asli-colored 

White 

Obsolete purple 

Greater yellow African 

Grape hyacinth 

Purple 

Blue 

White 

Red 

Monstrous flowering, or 
blue-feathered hyacinth 

Comosed, or tufted purple 
hyacinth 

Amethystine blue hyacinth 

Nodduig, spiked, red hya- 
cinth 

Non-script, small English 
hyacinth, or harebells, of 
the following varieties: 

Common, with blue flow- 
ers arranged on one side 
of the stalk 

White 

Bell-shaped blue hyacinth, 



with flowers on every 
side of the stalk 

Bell-shaped peach-colored, 
with flowers on one side 
of the stalk 

These are very hardy ,prop- 
agating by offsets 

Hyacinth, with a pale pur- 
ple flower 
Coh/ncums in variety 
Leonlke, lion's leaf, largest 
yellow, with single foot- 
stalks to the leaves 

Smaller pale yellow, with 
branched footstalks to 
the leaves 
Cyclamen, sow-bread, Euro- 
pean, or connnon au- 
tumn-flowering, with a 
purple flower, and angu- 
lar heart-shaped leaves 

The same, with a black 
flower 

The same, with white flow- 
ers 

Red spring-flowering, with 
heart-shaped leaves, mar- 
bled with white 

Entire whii;e, sweet-smell- 
ing 

Purple winter-flowering, 
with plain or circular 
sliining green leaves 

Purple round-leaved au- 
tumn-floweiing 

Small, or anemone-rooted, 
with flesh-colored flow- 
ers appearingin autumn: 
these plants have large, 
round, solid roots; the 
flowers and leaves rise 
innnediately from the 
root. 



FIBROUS-ROOTED FLOWERS. 51 



Corona Regalis, or royal 
crown ; requires shelter 
in the winter. 



AconUe, the winter 
Sisyrinchium 



AURICULA, RANUNCULUS, ANEMONE. 

These early and beautiful flowers deserve pecu- 
liar notice, for no garden looks well without them, 
and their bright tints delight the eye and mind. 
The commonest kinds are handsome and useful in 
small clumps, and a little care and trouble will 
raise superb varieties. 

The Auricula loves a soil composed of kitchen- 
garden mould, sand, and cow-dung, well mixed to- 
gether ; they also like a cool situation. The seed 
should be sown in September, and when sown give 
it a gentle watering. By sowing the seed in pots 
or boxes, you can remove them from heavy rains, 
&c., without trouble, and shelter them in the out- 
houses or tool-house. The seed seldom appears 
under six months, and it has been sometimes a 
twelvemonth producing itself, therefore be not in 
despair, but remain patient : these freaks of Nature 
cannot be accounted for. When they flower, you 
must single out the plants which bear the finest and 
most choice blooms, and transplant them into pots 
filled with the compost above described. The com- 
mon sorts may be planted in the borders, to remain 
out and shift for themselves. By keeping the fine 
auriculas in pots, you preserve them through the 
winter easily, for heavy rains and cutting winds do 
them harm. You can sink them in their pots during 
summer in the flower-beds, but let them be shelter- 
ed during the winter, if you wish to preserve the 
blooms uninjured. 

Auriculas multiply also by suckers, which grow 



6'2 THE AURICULA AND RANUNCULUS. 

on their roots. Take off these in February, and 
plunge them into pots of the mould they like best, 
to root freely. They will do so in two months. 
Auriculas should not be too much watered, as it 
makes them look sickly, and the leaves become 
yellow. When you pot the auriculas, sink them up 
to their leaves in the soil, but do not press the mould 
round the plant, as the flowers bloom finest when 
the roots touch the sides of the flower pot. 

The auricula is esteemed hue that has a low 
stem, a stalk proportioned to the flower, the eye 
well opened, and always dry. The glossy, the 
velvet, and the streaked auriculas are the most ad- 
mired. The stalk should be decked with many 
flower-bells, to be handsome and healthy. 

Take care to pull off all dead leaves round the 
plant at all times, that it may appear neat and clean. 
Neatness is favorable to its perfect growth, as well 
as decorating it to the eye. 

The Ranunculus does not like being mixed up 
with other flowers, and from this " aristocratic 
principle," it is always planted in separate knots. 

This flower loves sun and warmth. The root 
must be planted in September, to bloom early in the 
summer, and it delights in a rich, moist soil, well 
dug, and raked soft and fine. When you plant 
them in beds or pots, they must be sunk two inches 
deep, and dibble the hole with a round, not pointed, 
dibble. Place the roots four or five inches apart, 
in the warmest situation in your garden. By plant- 
ing ranunculuses in pots, you can more easily place 
them in warm situations, and withdraw them from 
heavy rains. The more room you give these roots 
the finer they will grow and blow. If your plots 
will allow of so doing, let the roots be planted six 



RANUNCULUSES AND ANEMONES. 53 

or seven inches apart. The flowers will repay 
your care. When ranunculuses in pots have flow- 
ered, remove them from the August rains, or take 
up the roots, to replant in {September. 

The Ranunculus with the double white flower 
must not be taken up until September, when it 
should- be taken up quickly, its roots parted, and 
replanted immediately. 

The yellow Ranunculus with the rue leaf, pre- 
fers being potted to being planted in beds. 

The Ranunculus propagates by seed as well as 
ofl^sets. Sow the seed as you do that of the 
auricula. 

The most admired ranunculuses are the white, 
the golden yellow, the pale yellow, the citron-color- 
ed, and the brown red. The red is the least es- 
teemed. The yellow ranunculus speckled with 
red, is handsome, — also the rose-color with white 
inside. 

Great varieties are obtained by seed. 

The Anemones love a light soil, composed of 
kitchen-garden mould, and sand, and leaf mould, 
well mixed, and sifted fine. It should, if possible, 
be composed a year before it is used ; the lighter 
it is the better for anemones. 

The seed should be sown in September. The 
single flowers alone bear seed, which is fit to gath- 
er when it appears ready to fly away with the first 
gust of wind. As soon as the seed is lodged, and 
raked smoothly into its fine, light bed, strew the 
bed over with straw or matting, and give it a good 
watering. In three weeks the seed will begin to 
rise, when the straw may be removed. The young 
plants will flower in the following April. 

When the roots are to be planted in September, 



54 BIENNIAL FLOWERS. 

sink them about three inches deep, and six inches 
apart, that they may come up strong and flower 
well. Make a hole in the ground for them with 
your finger, and set them upon the broadest side, 
with the slit downwards. 

Those anemones planted in September will flow- 
er in March and April, and the roots planted in 
May, flower in autumn, but the flowers are never 
so fine. 

When anemones have done flowering, it requires 
some care in taking up the roots, in order to part 
and put them by till the time for replanting arrives. 
The roots or flaps are so small and difficult to dis- 
tinguish, that the earth should be taken up and laid 
upon a sieve to be sifted, when the flaps will alone 
remain behind, or the earth may be deposited upon 
an open newspaper or cloth, and well rubbed with 
the hand to feel for the minute, dark-colored flaps, 
which may easily escape observation. 

The beauty of this flower consists in its thick- 
ness and roundness, especially when the great 
leaves are a little above the thickness of the tuft. 

Choose your seed from the finest single ane- 
mone, with a broad, round leaf. 

The remaining tuberous-rooted flowers are very 
hardy. 

Biennials. 

Biennial flowers, as the name implies, are plants 
that exist only two years. They are propagated by 
seed, rising the first year, and flowering the second. 
If they continue another year, they are sickly and 
languid. The double biennials may be continued 
by cuttings and slips of the tops, as well as by lay- 
ers and pipings, though the parent flower dies — but 



LIST OF HARDY BIENNIALS. 



55 



they are not so fine. A lady shonld have a space 
of ground allotted to biennial seedlings, so that a 
fresh succession of plants may be ready to supply 
the place of those which die away. The seeds 
should be sown every spring in light, well-dug 
earth ; the young plants should be kept very clean, 
and some inches apart from each other ; and they 
must be finally transplanted in autumn into the 
beds where they are intended to remain. 

But there is a great uncertainty as to raising the 
double flowers ; therefore it is better to make sure 
of those you approve by perpetuating them as long 
as you can, by any root offsets they may throw off; 
by pipings, cuttings, or by layers, as before noticed. 
I subjoin a list of the principal and useful biennials. 



LIST OF HARDY BIENNIALS. 



Canterbnry Bells 
Blue-flowered 
White 
Purple 
Pyramidal 
Carnation. All the varieties, 
somewhat biennial-pe- 
rennial. 
Clary, Purple-topped 

Red-topped 
Colutea, Ethiopian 
French Honeysuckle 
Red 
White 
Globe Thistle 

Hollyhocks. Somewhat bien- 
nial-perennial ; all the 
varieties; always by 
seed. 
Lunaria, Moonwort or Hon- 
esty 
Mallow (Tree) 



Poppy, Yellow-horned (Che- 

lidonium glaucum) 
Rocket, Dame's violet 

Single white 

Double white 

Double purple 

Single purple 
Rose Campion 

Red 

White 
Scabius, double 

Dark purple-flowered 

Dark-red 

Wliite 

Starry purple-flowered 

Starry white 

Jagged-leaved starry 
Stock Gilliflower 

Brompton 

Queen 
Twickenham 
Sweet-william 



56 HARDY BIENNIALS. 



Red 

Scarlet 

Purple 

Red, white-bordered 

Party-colored 

Variegated 

Painted Lady 

Double of each 

Mule, or Mongrel Sweet- 
wiiliani, or Mule Pink 
Tree Mallow (Lavalera ar- 

borea) 
Tree Primrose 



Common upright tall yel- 
low 

Small-flowered 
Wall-flower 

Yellow-flowered 

Bloody 

White 

Double of each 
Kighl Stock 
Petunia 

White 

Lilac 



When you make your seedling-bed or nursery, 
cover it over with straw, or fern, or matting, during 
frost ; and to prevent the birds pecking up the 
seeds, it is requisite to protect the bed by strewing 
light boughs of thorn bushes over it, or fixing a net 
upon sticks as a covering, till the plants appear. If 
cats, dogs, or poultry intrude into the flower-garden, 
it is in vain to hope for enjoyment. 

Sow your biennial seeds in March, April, or 
May. I recommend May, because the young 
plants in that month germ and vegetate quickly, 
surely, and without requiring defences from the 
frost. Plant them out in October, with a ball of 
earth to each root, where they are to remain. 

The Stock Gilliflowers in particular, having long, 
naked roots, must be planted out very young, other- 
wise they do not succeed well. 

Honesty is a very early, rich-flowering biennial, 
which requires no care ; they shed their seed, rise, 
and flower without any assistance, in profusion. 
The only trouble is to weed it out of the beds, that 
they may not stand in the way of other flowers. 

Canterbury Bells are handsome flowers, and will 
bloom a long time if you cut ofi' the bells as they 
decay. 



CARNATIONS. 57 

The deep crimson Sweet-williams are most es- 
teemed, though every variety looks well. 

Sweet-williams may be increased by layers and 
cuttings, which is the only sure way of securing 
the sorts you like ; for you may sow seed every 
year, and not one in a thousand will reward you by 
coming up double. 

Carnations are the pride of a garden, and de- 
serve great care and attention. The common sorts, 
which are planted in borders, should have a good 
rich earth alDOut them, and be treated like the pink ; 
but the finer sorts should always be potted, to pro- 
tect and shelter the plant from hares, rabbits, 
heavy rains, and severe frost in the winter. Re- 
fresh the top of the pots with new soil in June, 
and keep the plants free from decayed leaves. 
Gently stir the earth round each plant occasion- 
ally ; and as plants in pots require more water than 
if placed in the ground, let the carnations be gently 
moistened about every other day during dry weath- 
er. Let the watering take place in the evening; 
no flower wdll endure being watered during the 
heat of a summer's day. Carnations love sand and 
salt in proper proportions. The brine which is de- 
posited upon the compost heap, will answer every 
purpose of salts, (if it be regularly carried out,) 
without adding common salt : but let this be par- 
ticularly attended to. The cook should deposit her 
pickle and brine to good purpose upon the compost 
heap, instead of splashing it down in front of her 
kitchen door. 

Let each plant be well staked, and neatly tied to 

its supporter; and do not allow two buds to grow 

side by side upon the same stem, for one will 

weaken the other. Pinch off the smaller bud. 

6 



58 HOLLYHOCKS. 

Carnations love warmth ; therefore give them a 
simny aspect to blow in. The seedling plants may 
be treated like young pinks, but this difference 
must be observed; — pinks love shade, and carna- 
tions love warmth. A bed of carnations is a beau- 
tiful object. The pots can always be sunk in a 
border or bed in fine weather. Carnations may be 
layered, or piped, or slipped for propagation. 

Water your carnations in pots once a week with 
lime water, if they appear drooping, for this pro- 
ceeds from a worm at the root ; but the brine will 
destroy all insects quickly, when poured upon the 
compost heap. 

In propagating double Wall-flowers, take slips 
of the young shoots of the head : this will perpet- 
uate the double property and color of the flower, 
from which they were slipped. In saving seed for 
wall-flowers, choose the single flowers, which have 
five petals or flower leaves. Double flowers have 
no seed. 

Water the slips, and keep them shady and moist: 
they will root by September. 

Plant your Hollyhocks in September or October, 
where they are to remain. Hollyhocks are a noble 
flower, and they love a strong soil. Let a succes- 
sion of these flower plants be attended to in the 
biennial seed-bed. Keep them some inches apart 
from each other in the seedling-bed, for they form 
large straggling roots. The hollyhock looks well 
in clumps of three, at a good distance apart, in 
large gardens or shrubberies, but they are some- 
what too overgrown for smaller parterres. 

Be particular in gathering jour seeds on a fine, 
-dry day, and put each sort in a separate brown 
paper bag till you require them. The very finest 



BIENNIALS. 59 

seedlings are, after all, those which spring near 
the mother plant from self-sown seed, therefore, 
when you weed or dig your flower borders, be 
careful not to disturb any seedlings which may 
have sprung up. They always make strong, fine 
blooming plants. 

Take care of your double-flowering plants in 
winter. The double wall-flower is hardy enough 
to exist in the borders, but the other double bien- 
nials deserve to be sheltered, for double flowers are 
very handsome, and heavy rains, snow, or severe 
frost, injure them. Take cuttings every year from 
them. 

The Night Stock is tolerable hardy if sheltered 
during the frost by ashes or litter. The sweetness 
after night-fall must recommend it to all lovers of 
fragrant flowers. 

PROPAGATING BIENNIALS. 

Every young lady must become acquainted with 
the manner of operating upon plants, to preserve 
the finer sorts, which they may wish to perpetuate. 
Raising from seed is slow, but it produces infinite 
variety. You, however, rarely see the same flower 
produced twice from seed ; therefore you must 
propagate the biennial and perennial flowers by 
layers, slips, pipings, and cuttings, if you wish to 
preserve any particular sorts. 

To effect layers, prepare some rich, light earth, 
a parcel of small hooked sticks, or little pegs, and 
a sharp penknife. 

Now clear the ground about the plant you are 
going to layer; stir the surface well with your 
trowel, and put a sufficient quantity of the pre- 



60 LAYERS AND PIPINGS. 

pared mould round the plant as will raise the surface 
to a convenient height for receiving the layer. 

Cut off the top of each shoot with your knife, 
about two inches, and pull off the lower leaves; 
then fix upon a joint about the middle of the shoot, 
andj placing your knife under it slit the shoot from 
that joint, rather more than half way up, towards 
the joint above it. 

Now make an opening in the earth, and lay the 
stem, and slit or gashed shoot, into it, and peg it 
down; taking care to raise the head of the shoot 
as upright as you can, that it may grow shapely; 
then cover it with the new mould, and press the 
mould gently round it. Do this by each shoot till 
the plant is layered — that is, till every shoot is laid 
down. They must be watered often in dry weath- 
er, but moderately, not to disturb or wash away the 
soil round the layers. In six weeks' time, each 
gashed or slit shoot will have rooted, and become a 
distinct plant. They may be taken away from the 
old parent stem in September, and dug up with a 
ball of earth round each root, to be transplanted 
into the plots or borders where they are to remain. 

Carnations, pinks, sweet-williams, double wall- 
flowers, &c., are the flowers most deserving of 
layers. 

Piping, which belongs almost exclusively to car- 
nations and pinks, is a most expeditious mode of 
raising young plants. 

Take off the upper and young part of each shoot, 
close below a joint, with a sharp knife, and cut 
each off at the third joint, or little knob ; then cut 
the top leaves down pretty short, and take off the 
lower and discolored ones. When you have piped 
in this way as many as you require, let them stand 



PROPAGATING BIENNIALS. 61 

a week in a tumbler of water, wTiich greatly facili- 
tates their doing well. Indeed, I never failed in 
any pipings, slips, or cuttings, which I allowed to 
soak and swell in water previous to planting. 
When you plant the pipings, let the ground be nice- 
ly dug, and raked very fine ; dibble no hole, but 
gently thrust each piping half way down into the 
soft earth, slightly pressing the earth round each, to 
fix it in the bed. Water them often if the weather 
is dry, but moderately, just to keep them moist ; 
and shade them from the hot sun in the day. If 
pipings are covered with a hand-glass, they root 
earlier, by three weeks, than those which are ex- 
posed. 

Laying, piping, and slipping, are done in June 
and July. The plants will be well rooted, and fit 
to plant out in October. 

The operation of slipping is easy. Tear the top 
shoots of the plant to be so propagated, gently from 
their sockets ; hold the shoot between your finger 
and thumb, as near the socket as you can, and it 
will tear as easily and neatly as you carve the wing 
of poultry or game. Place the slips in water for a 
few days previous to planting them, like pipings. 
They will root in six weeks or two months, if kept 
shady and moist. 

Cuttings must be made of shoots of the last year's 
growth of roses, honeysuckles, &c., and planted in 
February. Choose the strong shoots, and do not 
cut them less than six inches long. Cut them with 
your knife in a slanting direction. Plant them in 
a shady place, each cutting half way in the ground, 
which should be cleaned, and well dug and raked, 
to receive them. Cuttings made in February, will 
root well by October. 

6* 



63 PROTECTION FOR CUTTINGS. 

Cuttings of flower stalks, siicli as scarlet lychnis, 
should be done in May, June, and July. Take cut- 
tings from the youngest flower stems, and plant 
them carefully in nice mould, like pipings. These 
flower cuttings should be in lengths of four joints 
each. Covering them with a hand-glass raises 
them very quickly. They root in two months. 

Where hand-glasses are not to form any part of 
a lady's arrangements, oil-papered frames are equal- 
ly useful. I have seen very economical and useful 
frames made of bamboo, in \hQ form of hand-glass- 
es, covered neatly with glazed white cotton or linen, 
or horn paper, made by a lady with great celerity 
and ingenuity ; and her cuttings and pipings suc- 
ceeded under them admirably. Whatever shelters 
cuttings and pipings from the rays of the sun, 
effects a material purpose. Linen is the best shel- 
ter in the world from heat, but oiled or horn paper 
resists rain better. 

Dr. Priestley is of opinion that salt water is very 
efficacious for cuttings, if they are placed in it for 
a few days previous to planting. He remarks that 
it is a custom with the importers of exotic plants, 
to dip cuttings in salt and water, otherwise they 
would perish on the passage. 



63 



CHAPTER IV. 



ANNUALS. 



Annuals, as I have observed before, are flowers 
that rise, bloom, and die in the same year ; and 
must therefore be raised from seed every spring. 

The first class of annuals, being very delicate, 
and requiring great care, with the constant assist- 
ance of glass frames, I shall not even name, since 
they do not enter into the nature of my work. 

I proceed to the second class, which are hardier 
than the above, though they should be raised in a 
warm border, and be covered with a hand-glass, if 
you wi§h them to flower in good time. 

The ten weeks' Stocks will grow, if sown in a 
warm border, towards the end of March, and 
should be afterwards transplanted ; but if brought 
up in a hot-bed, they will flower a month or six 
weeks earlier. 

The China-aster, Chrysanthemum, white and 
purple Sultan, African and French Marigolds, Per- 
sicarias, &c., will grow well in a warm border of 
natural earth, if sown in April ; but they also flow- 
er a month earlier if they are assisted by a hot-bed 
or glass. These annuals must be all planted out 
when tolerably strong, into the spots where they 
are destined to remain in the borders, taking care 
to allow each plant plenty of space, that they may 
not crowd each other. The China-aster branches 



64 SOWING ANNUALS. 

into many stems and flowers, therefore they may 
be planted singly, or not less than six inches apart. 
The July flowers, or more commonly called gilli- 
flowers, become expansive as they increase. They 
should not be crowded together ; three in a group 
are quite sufficient, and they should be six inches 
apart. The same may be said of the stock varie- 
ties. 

I have ever found the hardy annuals grow finest 
by allowing them to become self-sown. They 
flower some weeks earlier, and invariably produce 
larger and brighter flowers. 

When gathering my flower seeds in August and 
September, I allow one half to remain sprinkled 
over the borders ; and the young plants never fail 
appearing healthy and strong above ground in 
March and April, the months appropriated to sow- 
ing the seed. Thus, my Lavateras, Larkspurs, 
&c., are in beautiful blow, while the second crop, 
or seeds sown in spring, are but showing their 
green heads above the surface. I weed away the 
superfluous self-sown plants to my taste ; but the 
birds take care that no one shall be encumbered 
with superfluity. I have by this means a first and 
second crop of the same annuals, but the crop of 
self-sown are far superior. They are up before 
the heats come on to dry the earth, and dwindle 
the flower. 

Dig the ground well with your trowel, and rake 
it very fine, before you put in the seeds in spring. 
Annuals love a light, friable soil. All the hardy 
kinds may be sown in March, each sort in little 
separate patches, as follows : — 

Draw a little earth off" the top to one side, then 
sprinkle in the seed, not too plentifully, and cover 



ANNUALS. 65 

it again with the drawn-off earth. Half an inch is 
sufficient depth for small seed. The larger kind, 
such as sweet-peas, lupins, &c., must be sown an 
inch in depth. When the plants have been up 
some time, thin them well. The more space you 
have, the finer the plants will rise. 

The hardy annuals will not bear transplanting : 
they must be left to flourish where they are sown. 
The large kinds, such as the lavatera or mallow, 
should only be sown in groups of three plants to- 
gether. The lupin tribe should not exceed five 
plants in a group. The Convolvulus, also, requires 
four or five plants only in a group. Water the 
patches in dry weather moderately, and be careful 
never to use pump water. If you have no soft 
water, a tub should be placed in the garden to re- 
ceive rain water ; and if, as in towns, pump water 
must be chiefly used, let it remain a day or two in 
the tub, to soften in the air and sunshine. 

The first week in April is the safest period for 
sowing annuals, as the cutting winds have ceased 
by that time, and frost is not so much to be appre- 
hended. The soft rains, also, fall in warm showers, 
to give life and germ to seeds and plants, and they 
appear in a shorter space of time. 

Those ladies who live in the vicinity of nursery 
gardens, have a great advantage over the more re- 
mote flower-fanciers. They can be supplied, at a 
trifling expense, with all the tender annuals from 
hot-beds, either in pots, or drawn ready for imme- 
diate transplanting. 

If you do not raise your own seed, be careful 
how you purchase your stock, and of whom you 
receive it. Many seedsmen sell the refuse of 
many years' stock to their youthful customers, and 



66 SWEET-PEAS. 

produce great disappointment. There is one way 
of ascertaining the goodness of the seed, which 
will not deceive. Previous to sowing, plunge your 
lupin, sunflower, &c. seeds into a tumbler of water ; 
the good seed will sink, while the light and useless 
part remains floating on the surface. 

If you grow your own seed, exchange it every 
two years with your neighbors. Seeds love change 
of soil : they degenerate, if repeatedly grown and 
sown upon the same spot, particularly sweet-peas. 

Sweet-peas should be put into the ground early 
in March, for they will bear the wind and weather. 
Make a circle round a pole, or some object to which 
they may cling as they rise ; and put the peas an 
inch deep, having soaked them previously in water 
well saturated with arsenic, to guard them from the 
depredations of birds and mice. Add an outer cir- 
cle of peas every month, so that a continual bloom 
may appear. The circle first sown will ripen and 
pod for seed in the centre, while the outer vines 
will continue flowering till late in the autumn. 
When you have gathered a sufficient number of 
ripe pods, cut away all the pods which may after- 
wards form, with your knife. This strengthens 
the vines, and throws all their vigor into repeated 
blooms. 

Be very careful to throw away the arsenic water 
upon your heap of compost, and do not put that 
powerful poison into any thing which may be used 
afterwards in the house. Soak the peas in a flow- 
er-pot saucer, which is never required for any other 
purpose, and keep it on a shelf in the tool-house, 
covered up. Three or four hours' soaking will be 
sufficient. If the wind and frosts be powerful and 
continued, shelter the peas through March, by cov- 
ering them with straw or matting every evening. 



ANNUALS. 67 

I have got sweet-peas into very early blow by 
bringing them up in pots in-doors, and transplanting 
them carefully in April, without disturbing the 
roots. In doing this, push your finger gently 
through the orifice at the bottom of the flower-pot, 
and raise its contents " bodily." Then place the 
ball of earth and plants into a hole trowelled out to 
receive it ; cover it round gently, and, if the weath- 
er is dry, water it moderately. 

Ten-weeks' stock is a very pretty annual, and 
continues a long time in bloom. Mignionette is 
the very sweetest of all perfumes, and should be 
sown in September for early blowing, and again in 
March for a later crop. It is always more perfumy 
and healthy, if dug into the ground in autumn to 
sow itself. Venus' Looking-glass is a very pretty, 
delicate flower. Indeed, every annual is lovely ; 
and the different varieties give a gay and rich ap- 
pearance to the flower-garden during the three 
summer months. 

The Clarkias are very pretty annuals, with a 
hundred other varieties lately introduced, and which 
are all specified in Mrs. Loudon's new work upon 
annuals. My plan is, to give a general idea of 
their treatment only, under the classification of 
hardy annuals, or those annuals which may be nur- 
tured without a hot-bed. 

Keep your annuals from looking wild and disor- 
derly in a garden, by allotting the smaller kinds 
their separate patches of ground ; and tri^n the 
larger annuals from branching among other flowers. 
For instance, cut away the lowest branches of the 
China-aster, the African marigold, &c., and train 
the plant erect and neatly to a slight rod or stick ; 
cut away the flowers as they droop, reserving one 



68 



LIST OF ANNUALS. 



or two of the finest blooms only for seed ; and let 
each plant look clean and neat in its own order. 
By cutting away flowers as they droop, the plant re- 
tains vigor enough to continue throwing out fresh 
flowers for a long period. 



SECOND, OR LESS TENDER CLASS OF ANNUALS. 



African Marigold, the orange 

Yellow 

Straw-colored 

Double of each 

Double-quilled 
French Marigold, the striped 

The yellow 

Sweet-scented 
China-aster, the double 

Double purple 

Double white 

Double-striped 
Marvel of Feru, ihe red striped 

Yellow-striped 

Long-tubed 
Chrysanthemum, the double 
white 

Double yellow 

Double-quilled 
Sweet Sultan, the yellow 

White 

Red 
Indian Pink, double 

Single 

Large imperial 
Alkekengi 
Falma Christi, the common 

Tall red-stalked 

Smaller green-leaved 
Smallest 
Tobacco, long-leaved Virginia 
Broad-leaved 
Branching perennial 
Love Apple, with red fruit 
With yellow fruit 



Gourds, the round, smooth 
orange 
Rock, or warted 
Pear-shaped yellow 
Pear-shaped striped 
Stone-colored 
Bottle Gourd, some very 
large, from two or three 
to five or six feet long, 
and of various shapes 
Momordica Balsamina 
Persicaria 
Indian Corn, the tall 

Dwarf 
Nolana Prostrata, blue 
Convolvulus, scarlet-flowered 
Yellow Balsam, or Touch-me- 
not 
Capsicum, long red-podded 
Long yellow-podded 
Red, short, thick, roundish 

podded 
With heart-shaped pods 
With cherry-shaped fruit, 

red 
Cherry -shaped fruit,yellow 
Basil, the common, or sweet- 
scented 
Bush basil 
Zinnia, red 

Yellow 
Amaranthus 
Tree Amaranthus 
Prince's feather amaran- 
thus 



HARDY ANNUALS. 



69 



Love-lies-bleeding amaran- 
th us 
Cannacorus, yellow 

Red 
Chinese Hellyhock, the varie- 
gated 
Ten-week Stock Gilliflower 
The double red 
Double white 



Double purple 
White Ten-week Stock, with a 
wallflower leaf 

With double and single 
flowers 

The double of this sort 
makes a pretty appear- 
ance 



The following are hardy annuals, requiring no 
assistance of artificial heat, but should all be sown 
in the places where it is designed they shall flower : 



Adonis Flower,or FlosAdonis, 
the red-flowering 

The yellow 
Candytuft, the large 

Purple 

White 
Larkspur, the double rose 

Double-branched 

Large blue double 

Double white 
Lupins, the rose 

Large blue 

Small blue 

Yellow 

White 

Scarlet 

Marbled 
Sunflower^ the tall double 

Double dwarf 
Lavatera, red 

White 
Poppy, the double tall striped 
carnation 

Dwarf-striped 

Double corn poppy 

Horned poppy 
Convolvulus, major 

Minor 

Striped 



White 

Scarlet 
Ketmia, bladder 
Starry Scabious 
Hawkweed, the yellow 

Purple, or red 

Spanish 
Carthamus tinctorius, or saf- 
fron-flower 
Nasturtium, the large 

Small 
Cerinthe major, or great Ho- 
ney-wort 
Tangier Pea 
Sweet Pea, the painted lady 

The purple 

White 

Scarlet 
Winged Pea 
Crown Pea 

Nigella, or devil in a bush, the 
long blue, or Spanish 

The white 

Oriental mallow, curled 

Venetian mallow 
Lobel's Catchjly, white and 

red 
Arbisciis 
Pimpernel 



70 



HARDY ANNUALS. 



Dwarf Lychnis 

Venus'' s Navel- wort 

Venus' s Looking glass 

Virginian Stock 

Strawberry Spinach 

Noli me tangere, or toucn me- 

not 
Heart's Ease 
Snail Plant 

Large ditto 
Caterpillur Plant 
Hedgehog Plant 
Antirrhinum, snap-dragon, 

the annual 
Nolana, blue 

Cyanus, or corn-bottle, the 
red 

White 

Blue 
Roman Nctflc 

Bdviderc, or summer cyprefs 

Garden, ox common Marigold, 

the common single 

Doiiole orange 

Double lemon-colored 



Double lemon-colored ra- 
nunculus marigold 
Annual Cape Marigold, wilh 
a violet and white flower 
Mignionette, or reseda, the 
sweet-scented 
The npright 
Xerantlitmum, or eternal flow- 
er, red and white 
Purple Clary 
Purple Jacohica 
Dracoccphalum, the purple 

Blue 
Capnoides, or bastard fumi- 
tory 
Ten-iDcck Stock Gilliflowers, 

in variety 
Pcrsicaria 
Tobacco Plant 
Long-leaved 
Round-leaved 
Indian Corn 
Amethyslca 
Globe Thlslle 
Clarkias 



71 



CHAPTER V. 

ROSES AND JASMINES. 

These most delicious, most elegant flowers — in 
themselves a garden — are worthy of a chapter de- 
voted exclusively to their culture. What cottage 
exists without its roses twined around the door- 
w^ay, or blooming up its pathway ? What is senti- 
ment without its roses ? What other flower illus- 
trates the beauty and excellence of a loved one ? — 

" Oh J ray love is like the red, red rose, 
That sweetly blows in June." 

Every gentle feeling, every exquisite thought, every 
delicate allusion, is embodied in the rose. It is 
absurd to say the rose by any other name " would 
smell as sweet." It is not so. Poetry, painting, 
and music, have deified the rose. Call it " nettle," 
and we should cast it from our hands in disgust. 

There are innumerable varieties of roses, from 
the cottage rose to the fairy rose, whose buds are 
scarcely so large as the bells of the lily of the 
valley. Mrs. Gore mentions some hundreds of 
sorts, but such a catalogue is too mighty to insert in 
my little work. I will name only the well-known 
hardy kinds, and refer my reader to Mrs. Gore her- 
self for the complete collection. Seed yields such 
inexhaustible varieties, that a new list will be re- 
quired every ten years. 

The Damask rose is very useful from its proper- 
ties, as well as its beauty and hardihood. Rose- 



72 ROSES. 

water is distilled from this bright, thickly-blowing 
flower. 

The Cabbage rose is the most beautiful, as well 
as the most fragrant of roses. All others are vari- 
eties of roses, but this grand flower is the " rose 
itself" 

It throws out suckers plentifully for propagating 
its kind ; and every two or three years, the root of 
each bush will part into separate plants. Cut the 
roots slanting with a sharp knife as you divide 
them. A very small bit of root is_ sufficient for a 
rose-bush, as they are hardy in their nature. Do 
not move roses oftener than you can help : they 
delight in being stationary for years. 

In pruning roses of every description, which 
should be effected in January, shorten all the shoots 
to nine inches only, and cut away all the old wood, 
which becomes useless after two or three years' 
growth. This treatment ensures fine flowers. 

Roses love a good soil, as, indeed, Avhat flower 
does not ? Fresh mould applied to them every two 
or three years, or manure dug round them annually, 
preserves them in constant vigor and beauty. 

Shoots of rose-bushes laid down and pegged like 
layers, only without gashing, when the flowers are 
in bloom, will root and become plants in the autumn. 
Pinch off their buds, that they may throw their 
strength into their roots. 

Roses are often observed to change their color, 
which effect proceeds chiefly from bad soil. When 
this occurs, manure the root of the bush or plant. 
A clay soil, well dressed with ashes, is the best of 
all soils for the hardy roses. 

Moss roses love a cool soil and a cool aspect. 
They soon fade in a hot sun. 



ROSES. 73 

The origin of this exquisitely beautiful variety, 
the Moss Rose, is thus fancifully accounted for : 

The Angel of the Flowers, one day, 

Beneath a Rose Tree sleeping lay, 

That Spirit to whose charge is given 

To bathe young buds in dews from heaven. 

Awaking from his high repose, 

The Angel whispered to the Rose : 

" O fondest object of my care, 

Still fairest found where all are fair, 

For the sweet shade thou'st given to me, 

Ask what thou wiU, 'tis granted thee." 

Then said the Rose with deepening glow, 
" On me another grace bestow." 
The Spirit paused in silent thought — 
What grace was there that flower had not! 
'Twas but a moment — o'er the Rose 
A veil of moss the Angel throws ; 
And robed in Nature's simplest weed. 
Could there a flower that Rose exceed! 

A pyramid of climbing roses is a beautiful object 
in a garden. Iron or wooden stakes, twelve feet in 
height, gradually approaching each other, till they 
meet at the top, with climbing roses trained up 
their sides, is a pleasing and easily constructed 
ornament. Fancy and taste may range at will in 
inventing forms to ornament the parterre with roses. 
Beds of roses, raised pyramidally, have a splendid 
effect. When the flowers die away in the autumn, 
the mass may be clipped again into form, with the 
garden shears, as you would clip a laurel hedge. 

Standard roses, which are so much in fashion at 
this time, and which always remind one of a house- 
maid's long broom for sweeping cobwebs, are be- 
yond a lady's own management, as budding is a 
troublesome business, and very frequently fails. I 
will not, therefore, touch upon that subject. 



74 ROSES. 

The double yellow rose is very elegant. It re- 
quires a western aspect, and even prefers north and 
east, but a warm aspect injures its beauty. It loves 
a good substantial soil, and will not bear much cut- 
ting or removing. Let it alone in its glory, only 
pruning away the old scraggy wood occasionally, 
to strengthen the plant. 

The monthly rose is also a lover of the north and 
east. It blooms through the autumn and winter, 
has an evergreen leaf, and loves a strong soil. It 
must be propagated by cuttings, and parting the 
roots, as it never throws up suckers. Prune away 
the old wood, and make cuttings in June, July, and 
August, of the branches you clear away. Plant 
the cuttings in loose, moist earth, and do not let 
them bud till the following year. Let the cuttings 
be sunk two joints in the earth, leaving one only 
exposed. The monthly rose climbs, or creeps. 

The Austrian briar, or rose, will not flower if 
exposed to the south. It bears a rich mass of 
flowers, yellow outside, and deep red within. Give 
it an eastern or western aspect. 

The perpetual, or " four-season" rose, requires a 
rich soil. The flower buds appearing in June and 
July should be pinched ofl", and in winter the plant 
may be pruned as closely as its hardier compan- 
ions. Place the four-season rose in a sheltered sit- 
uation from winds. 

Among the hardy climbing roses, the Ayrshire 
rose is the most useful. Its foliage is rich, and it 
covers fences, walls, &c. with astonishing rapidity. 
It flowers in July. Place it in a warm situation, 
and it will extend thirty feet in one season. 

Lady Banks'' yellow rose is a pretty climber, and 
flowers early in all situations. So does the Rosa 
sempervirens. 



ROSES. 75 

Climbing roses will grow luxuriantly under the 
shade of trees, and form a mass of fragrant under- 
wood in shrubberies. They grow with surprising 
vigor, if allowed to remain prostrate. Plant these 
thinly, and lay in the most vigorous shoots, by peg- 
ging them down into the ground. This process in- 
creases the plants rapidly, and gives the gayest 
possible effect. 

The Rosa hyhrida multiflora is a hardy and rap- 
idly growing rose. It flowers also from June to 
September. So does the red and crimson Bour- 
sault, and the Rosa Russeliana. 

Roses are subject to the green fly, w^hich dis- 
figures their beauty, particularly the white roses. 
An excellent remedy for this annoyance is effected 
by moistening the plant, and then dusting it over 
with equal portions of sulphur and tobacco dust. 

Once, on a solemn festal day, 

Held by the immortals in the skies, 
Flora had summon'd all the deities, 
That rule o'er gardens, or survey 
The birth of greens or springing flowers, 
And thus address'd the genial powers. 

" Ye shining graces of my courtly train. 

The cause of this assembly know: 

lu sovereign majesty I reign 
O'er the gay flowery universe below; 
Yet, my increasing glory to maintain, 
A queen I'll choose with spotless honor fair, 
The delegated crown to wear. 

Let me your counsel and assistance ask, 

T' accomplish this momentous task." 

The deities, that stood around. 
At first return'd a murm'ring sound ; 
Then said, '' Fair goddess, do you know 
The factious feuds this must create? 
What jealous rage, and mutual hate, 



76 



Among the rival flowers will grow? 
The vilest thistle that infests the plain, 

Will think his tawdry painted pride 

Deserves the crown, and, if denied, 
Perhaps with traitor plots molest yonr reign." 

" Vain are yonr fears," Flora replied ; 

'"Tis fix'd, and hear how I'll the cause decide. 

" Deep in a venerable wood, 

Where oaks, with vocal skill indued, 
Did wond'rous oracles of old impart. 
Beneath a little hill's inclining side, 

A grotto 's seen, where Natnre's art 
Is exercised in all her smiling pride. 

" Retired in this sweet grassy cell, 

A lovely wood-nymph once did dwell; 
She always pleased ; for more than mortal fire 
Shone in her eyes, and did her charms inspire, 
A dryad bore the illustrious nymph, a sylvan was her sire. 

" Chaste, wise, devout, she still obey'd. 
With humble zeal, Heaven's dread commands, 

To ev'ry action ask'd our aid, 

And oft before our altars pray'd. 
Pure was her heart, and undeliled her hands, 

" She's dead, and from her sweet remains 

The wond'rous mixture I would take. 
This much desired, this perfect flower to make; 

Assist, and thus, with our transforming pains, 
We'lldignify the garden beds, and grace our fav'rite plains," 

Th' applauding deities with pleasure heard. 

And for the grateful work prepared. 

A busy face Priapus wore ; 

Vertumnus of the party too, 
From various sweets th' exhaling spirits drew ; 
While in full canisters Pomona bore 

Of richest fruit a plenteous store ; 
And Vesta promised wond'rous things to do. 

Gay Venus led a lively train 
Of Smiles and Graces; the plump god of wine 
From clusters did the flowing nectar strain. 
And fill'd large goblets with his juice divine. 



ROSES. 77 

Thus charged, they seek the honor'd shade, 

Where lived and died the spotless maid. 
On a soft couch of tsuf the body lay : 
Th' approaching deities pass'd all around, 

Prepared the sacred rites to pay 

In silence, and with awe profound. 
Flora thrice bow'd, and thus was heard to pray: — 

" Jove, mighty Jove, whom all adore, 

Exert thy great creating power ! 
Let this fair corpse be mortal clay no more : 
Transform it to a tree, to bear a beauteous flower." 

Scarce had the goddess spoke, when, see, 
The nymph's extended limbs the form of branches wear. 
Behold the wond'rous change, the fragrant tree! 

To leaves was turn'd her flowing hair. 
And rich ditFused perfumes regaled the wanton air. 

Heavens! what new charm, what sudden light. 
Improves the grot, and entertains the sight ! 
A sprouting bud begins the tree t' adorn — 
The large, the sweet vermilion flower is born! 
The goddess thrice on the fair infant breathed, 

To spread it into life, and to convey 
The fragrant soul, and every grace bequeathed, 
To make the vegetable princess gay. 
Then kiss'd it thrice ; the general silence broke, 
And thus in loud rejoicing accents spoke : — 

" Ye Flowers, at my command attendant here, 
Pay homage, and your sovereign Rose revere! 
No sorrow on your drooping leaves be seen, 

Let all be proud of such a queen, 

So fit the floral crown to wear. 
To glorify the day, and grace the youthful year!" 

Thus speaking, she the new-born fav'rite crown'd ; 

The transformation was complete : 

The deities with songs the queen of flowers did greet. 
Soft flutes and tuneful harps were heard to sound. 
While now to heaven, well pleased, the goddess flies 
With her bright train, and reascends the skies. 



78 



ROSES, 



The following list of roses will not prove beyond 
a lady's management, being hardy, and requiring 
only priming every January, and giving them a 
good soil. Prune the white rose-trees very spar- 
ingly, as they do not love the knife. 



Roses, early cinnamon 

Double yellow 

Single yellow 

Red monthly 

White monthly 

Double white 

Moss Provence 

Common Provence 

Double velvet 

Single ditto 

Dutch hundred-leaved 

Blush ditto 

Blush Belgic 

Red ditto 

Marbled 

Large royal 

York and Lancaster 

Red damask 

Blush ditto 

Austrian, with flowers hav- 
ing one side red, and the 
other yellow 



White damask 

Austrian yellow 

Double musk 

Royal virgin 

Rosa mundi, i, e. rose of 

the world, or striped red 

rose 
Frankfort 
Cluster blush 
Maiden blush 
Virgin, or thornless 
Common red 
Burnet leaved 
Scotch, the dwarf 
Striped Scotch 
Apple-bearing 
Single American 
Rose of Meux 
Pennsylvaniau 
Red cluster 
Burgundy rose 
Perpetual, or four-season 



HARDY CLIMBING ROSES. 



The Ayrshire rose 

Double ditto 

Rose hybrida mulliflora 

Rose Clair 

Rosa Russeliana 

Reversa clea;aus 



Rosa sempervirens, three 

sorts 
Rose ruga 
Red Boursault 
(h'imson ditto 
Lady Banks' yellow rose 



JASMINES. 



Jasmines grow in very irregular forms. Per- 
haps their luxuriant wild appearance constitutes 
their chief grace. The jasmine is a beautiful 



JASMINES. 79 

screen in summer, wreathing its festoons through 
trellis-work ; and it appears to me that Nature pre- 
sents not, in our colder climes, a more fragrant and 
beautiful bouquet than a mixture of roses and jas- 
rniiico. 

The common jasmine is hardy, and loves a good 
soil, by which term I mean kitchen garden soil. 
Trench round the stem occasionally to lighten the 
earth, and it will grow very freely. Put litter 
round the jasmine in severe frost; and if a very 
rigorous season destroy the branches, the root will 
be saved, and its shoots in the spring will soon re- 
place the loss. If they shoot out with displeasing 
irregularity and confusion, take olf the least healthy 
If^oking branches, and cut away those which grow 
rumpled, for they only consume the juices of the 
plant to no purpose. The common jasmine is 
propagated by layers and slips. 

The Arabian jasmine is very fragrant, but it does 
not endure cold, or much heat, therefore an eastern 
aspect suits it best. If the Arabian jasmine is 
grown in a large pot or box, it could be placed 
under cover during frost in the winter months ; but 
do not place it in a greenhouse, which vv^ould be in 
the other extreme again. 

The yellow jasmine may be treated like the com- 
mon jasmine. It is not very fragrant, but it forms 
an elegant variety. 

I have seen very fanciful and beautiful devices 
invented to display the beauty of the jasmine. 
Their shoots grow so rapidly and luxuriantly, that 
if the plant is allowed to luxuriate, it will soon 
cover any frame-work with its drooping beauty. 
The jasmine loves to hang downwards ; and I have 
admired inventive little arbors, where the plant has 



80 JASMINES. 

been trained up behind them, and the branches 
allowed to fall over their front in the richest profu- 
sion, curtained back like the entrance of a tent. 
The eflect, during their time of flowering, was re- 
markably elegant. 

When you prune the jasmine, cut the branches 
to an eye or bud, just by the place from which they 
sprout, and that in such a manner, that the head, 
when trimmed, should resemble the head of a wil- 
low. This method makes them throw out abun- 
dance of branches and fine flowers. 

Give fresh soil to the jasmine every two years, 
or they will gradually become weakened in their 
blooms. The secret of having fine flowers, is in 
keeping up the soil to a regular degree of strength, 
as the human frame languishes under change of 
diet, and becomes weakened for want of food. 
Thus it is with animate and inanimate nature. 



81 



CHAPTER YL 



ORNAMENTAL SHRUBS AND EVERGREENS. 

1 SHALL speak now of the ornamental shrubs which 
decorate a flower garden, and which a lady may 
superintend herself, if her own physical powers are 
not equal to the fatigue of planting. A laborer, or 
a stout, active girl, may act under her orders, and 
do all that is necessary to be done, in removing or 
planting flowering shrubs and evergreens. 

In planting flowering shrubs, be very particular 
to plant them at such distances that each plant may 
have plenty of room to grow, and strike out their 
roots and branches freely. If shrubs are crowded 
together, they become stunted in growth, and lanky 
in form. 

If you are forming a clump, or even a planta- 
tion, let each shrub be planted six feet apart from 
its neighbor : but if you wish to plant roses, syrin- 
gas, honeysuckles, lilacs, &c. in your flower bor- 
ders, they should be from twelve to fifteen feet dis- 
tant from each other, so as not to interfere with the 
flowers growing below them. 

Do not plant tall shrubs promiscuously among 
low-growing ones. Let the taller shrubs form the 
back-grounds, that each shrub may be distinctly 
seen. The shrubs should be trained up with single 
stems, and they should be pruned every year, taking 
up the suckers, and removing disorderly branches. 

By allowing each shrub plenty of room, it will 
8 



82 EVERGREEN SHRUBS. 

form a handsome head, and throw out vigorous 
shoots. You vidll also have space to dig between 
the shrubs, and the sun and air can benefit them. 

Some of the more beautiful evergreens look ex- 
tremely well dotted about the grounds singly or in 
clumps, but be very particular in planting your 
shrubs. 

For instance, when you wish to transplant or 
plant a shrub, dig a circular hole sufficiently large 
to receive the roots of the plant, which must be 
laid neatly down, while some person holds the 
shrub in its proper position, straight and upright. 
Cut away any dead or damaged roots ; then break 
the earth well with your spade, and throw it into 
the hole, shaking the plant gently, just to let the 
earth fall close in among the roots. When it is 
well filled up, tread the earth gently round the 
shrub to fix it, but do not stamp it, as I have seen 
people do. 

But if you can take up shrubs with a ball of 
earth round their roots, they do not feel the opera- 
tion, and their leaves do not droop. Water each 
shrub after planting ; give each of them a good 
soaking, and let each plant have a stake to support 
it during the winter. 

October is the autumn month for transplanting 
shrubs, and February and March are the spring 
months. I always prefer the autumn transplant- 
ing, as the rains and showers are so fructifying. 
March is the last month for transplanting ever- 
greens. 

Laurustinus, Phillyreas, and Laurel, are excel- 
lent shrubs to plant near buildings, or to hide a walk 
They are evergreen summer and winter, very 
JK^rdy, ;',nr! qui',"]: in'OTinnr. 



EVERGREEX SHRUBS. 83 

The Pyracantha is an elegant shrub, with its 
clusters of red berries ; and it looks gay during the 
autumn and winter. 

The Arbutus, or strawberry tree, is loaded with 
its strawberries in August, September, and Octo- 
ber. This is a beautiful shrub, placed singly on a 
lawn, kept to one single clean stem, and a fine 
branching head. 

Portugal laurels are beautiful : their deep green 
leaves, and scented feathery flowers, make them an 
important shrub in all gardens. 

It has been ascertained by a late severe winter, 
that evergreens are extremely hardy, and will bear 
any severity of frost. All those evergreens con- 
sidered most tender, such as Portugal laurels, rho- 
dodendrons, &c., were observed to brave the frost 
unhurt, which were placed in high, unsheltered 
places, or facing the east and north. It was ob- 
served, also, that those evergreens were destroyed 
whose aspect was south and west, and which lay 
in warm and sheltered situations. The cause was 
this. The shrubs did not suffer which were not 
subject to alternations of heat and cold ; while 
those which lay in warm situations, being thawed 
by the sun's rays during the day, could not endure 
the sudden chill of returning frost at night. 

Plant your evergreens, therefore, fearlessly in 
exposed situations ; and care only, in severe win- 
ters, for those which are likely to be thawed and 
frozen again twice in twenty-four hours. 

Rhododendrons are very beautiful shrubs, and 
grow into trees, if the soil agrees with them. 
They love a bog soil. 

The Camellia japonica is considered a green- 
house plant, but it becomes hardy, like the laurel, 



84 EVERGREEN SHRUBS. 

if care is taken to shelter it for a few winters, 
when it gradually adapts itself to the climate. 
This is troublesome, perhaps, as most things are, to 
indolent people ; but the trouble is well repaid by 
the beautiful flowers of the japonicas, its dark 
leaves, and delicate scent. 

The gum Cistus is a handsome evergreen, and 
looks well any where and every where. Some 
straw litter spread round their roots in winter is a 
great protection. 

All evergreens of a hard-wooded nature are pro- 
pagated rapidly by layers in June or July. This 
is the method : — Dig round the tree or shrub, and 
bend down the pliable branches ; lay them into the 
earth, and secure them there with hooked or forked 
sticks. Lay down all the young shoots on each 
branch, and cover them with earth about five 
inches deep, leaving the tops out about two, three, 
or four inches above ground, according to their dif- 
ferent lengths. If these branches are laid in June 
or July, they will root by Michaelmas ; but if they 
are laid in October, they will be a twelve-month 
rooting. 

The layers of Alaternuses and Phillyreas will 
sometimes be two years rooting, if done so late as 
October ; therefore lay down your shoots, if possi- 
ble, in June. Let the shoots which are layered be 
those of the last summer's growth. 

You may propagate shrubs also from cuttings in 
February and October. I^et strong shoots be cho- 
sen, of last summer's growth : choose them from 
nine to fifteen inches long, and, if you can, take 
about two inches of old wood with the shoots at 
their base. Trim off the lower leaves, place the 
cuttings half way in the ground, and plant them in 



EVERGREEN SHRUBS. 



85 



a shady border to root. Do this in February, in 
preference to October, as every thing roots earlier 
from spring operations. You may also plant cut- 
tings in June, but keep them moist and shady. 

October is a good month for taking up suckers of 
lilacs, roses, <fec., and for all sorts of transplanting 
in its varieties. It is also the month to transplant 
the layers of such shrubs as vfexe laid in the pre- 
vious October. 

I subjoin a list of hardy deciduous shrubs and 
evergreens, not too tall to admit into a moderately 
sized flower garden. 

DECIDUOUS SHRUBS OF LESSER GROWTH. 



Arbutus, Strawberry tree 

Common 

Double-flowering 

Red'flowering 

Eastern, or Andrachne 
Almond, common 

White-flowering 

Early dwarf, single flower 

Double dwarf 
AlthcBafrutex, striped 

Red 

White 

Blue 

Purple 

Pheasant's eye 
Andromeda, striped 

Evergreen 
Azalea, with red flowers 

White 
Berberry, common, red fruit 

Stoneless, red fruit 

White fruit 
Bladder-nut, three-leaved 

Five-leaved 
Broom, the Spanish 

Double-flowering 



Yellow Portugal 

White Portugal 

Lucca 
Bramble, double-flowering 

American upright 

White-fruited 

Dwarf 

Thornless 
Chionanthus, Fringe, or Snow 

drop tree 
Candleberry Myrtle, broad- 
leaved 

Long-leaved 

Fern-leaved 

Oak-leaved 
Cherry, double-blossomed 

Cornelian 

Dwarf Canada 
Currant, with gold and silver- 
blotched leaves 

With gooseberry leaves 

Pennsylvanian 
Dogwood, the commoa 

Virginia 

Great-flowering 

Newfoundland 



86 



EVERGREEN SHRUBS. 



Empciriirn, hlack-hen'iedheath. 
Guelder Rose, common 

Double, or snowball 

Carolina 

Gold-blotched leaf 

Currant-leaved 
Hydrancrea, white-flowering 
Honeysuckle, early red Itahan 

Early white Dutch 

Late Dutch 

Late red 

Long-blowing 

Large scarlet trumpet 

Small trumpet 

OaK-leaved 

Early white Italian 

Early red Italian 
Icy, deciduous, or Virginian 

creeper 
Jasmine, the comrcon white 

Common yellow Italian 

Gold-striped leaved 

Silver striped leaved 
Lilar, blue 

White 

Purple, or Scotch 

Persian, with cut leaves 

Persian, white-flowered 

Persian., blue-flowered 
Lonicera, upright Honey 
suckle 

Red-berried 

Blue-berried 

Virginia a 

Tartarian 
Meztrcon white 

Early red 

Late red 

Purple 
Mespilus, spring-flowering 

Lady Hardwick's shrub 
Peach, double-flowering 
Privet, common 



Silver-striped 

Yellow-blotched leaves 
Ptelea, or American Shrub 

Trefoil 
Pomegranate, single-flowering 

Double 
Robinia, or fa,lse Acacia 

Common 

Yellow-flowered 

S-ca-rlet-flowered, or rose 
acacia 

Caragana 
Rhamnus, or Buckthorn 

Common 

Sea buckthorn 

Yellow-berried 

Creeping evergreen 
Raspberry, double-flowering 

Virginian sweet- flowering 
Rose, in every variety 
Spirmafrutez, common red 

Scarlet 

White 
Sumach, scarlejt 

Large downy 

White 

Virginia 

Elm-leaved 

Myrtle-leaved 

Carolina 
Syringa, common 

Dwarf double-flowering 
Scorpion Senna 
Smilaz, broad-leaved 

Blotched-leaved 
Tulip Tree 
Tamarisk, the French 

German 
Viburnum, or Wayfarer 

Common 

Stripe-leaved 

American broad-le aved 

Maple-leaved 



EVERGREEN SHRUBS. 



87 



EVERGREENS. 



Alaternus, common 

Blotched-leaved 

Jagged-leaved, plain 

Ditto, striped 

Silver-striped 

Gold-striped 
Cistus, or Rock Rose 

Gum Cistus, with spotted 
flowers 

With plain white flowers 

Purple sage-leaved 

Male Portugal 

Bay-leaved gum 

With hairy willow leaves 

Black poplar-leaved 

Waved-leaved 

Purple, or true Gum Cistus 
of Crete, with other va- 
rieties 
Cytisus, Neapolitan 

Canary 

Siberian and Tartarian 
Laurustimis, common 

Broad, or shining-leaved 

Rough-leaved 

Oval-leaved 
Bay, broad-leaved 

Narrow-leaved 
Phillyrea, the true 

Broad-leaved 

Privet-leaved 

Prickly-leaved 

Olive-leaved 

Gold-edged 

Silver-edged 

Rosemary-edged 
Juniper, common 

Swedish 

Sclavonian 

Canada 
Jasmine, evergreen 
Pyracantha 
Ivy, common 



Striped-leaved 

Virginian 

Irish, or quick-growing 
Honeysuckle, evergreen 
Rose, the evergreen 
i?Aor/r>(Zsn^row, dwarf Rose Bay 
Kalmia, olive-leaved 

Broad-leaved 

Thyme-leaved 
Coronilla, narrow-leaved 

Broad-leaved 
Magnolia, laurel-leaved 

Lesser bay-leaved 
Aihor Fite, common 

China 

American 
Cypress, common upright 

Male spreading 
Bignonia, the evergreen 
Widow It ail 
Locust of Montpelier 
Medicago, Moon Trefoil 
Stonecrop Shrub 
Ragwort, the sea 
Holly, common 

Carolina broad-leaved 

Yellow-berried 

Many varieties 
Laurels, common 

Portugal 

Alexandrian 
Oak, Ilex, or evergreen 

Kermes, or scarlet-bearing 

Gramuntian, holly-leaved 

Carolina live 
Germander, shrubby, of Crete 
Euonymus, evergreen Virginia 
Virginia Groundsel tree 
Wormitood, lavender-leaved 
Spurge, or wood laurel 
Kneeholm, or Butcher's broom 
Horse-tail, shrubby 



88 EVERGREEN SHRUBS. 

In pruning shrubs, be careful to cut out the long 
rambling shoots of the last summer's growth, which 
disfigures their appearance. Cut away, also, 
branches of shrubs which interlace each other, that 
every shrub may stand clear and well-defined. 
Take away their suckers, and let each shrub be 
kept to a single stem, as I have before observed. 



89 



CHAPTER VII 



JfONTHLY NOTICES. 

A RECAPITULATION of the work which each month 
presents to the gardener's notice will be useful. 
By occasionally glancing over the Monthly Notices, 
the memory is refreshed ; and it will be found that 
even the three winter months allow the young gar- 
dener no remission from labor. There is some- 
thing to be done in every week of the year, — some- 
thing to be attended to, which amuses the mind, 
interests the imagination, and benefits the general 
tone of mental and physical health. 

JANUARY. 

Let your lawn and grass walks be kept neat and smooth, 
by rolling, this month ; and if any part of the grounds require 
fresh turf, this is the season for cutting and laying it down. 
If you live in the neighborhood of a common, that is the best 
ground for cutting turf, as the herbage is short, and free 
from nettles, docks, &c. Lay it down firm and even, allow- 
ing for the sinking of the newly laid earth, about an inch or 
two. Roll it well, after having laid down the turf. 

Keep the gravel walks also from weeds and moss, and roll 
them in dry weather. If you attempt to roll gravel in wet 
weather, the gravel clings to the roller. 

Dig the clumps or spots where you mean to plant ever- 
greens, in February and March, that the ground may be 
trenched in readiness. The frost of this month will render 
newly-dug earth more friable, and the snow will enrich it. 

If the weather is very settled and mild, you may still plant 
out hardy deciduous shrubs, such as sweetbriars, double 
bramble, double-blossomed cherry, dwarf almond, jasmines, 
honeysuckles, roses, hlacs, laburnums, guelder rose, Spirasa 
frutex, mezereons, &c. Transplant each shrub with a good 
ball of earth round its roots. 



90 MONTHLY NOTICES. 

Prune flowering shrubs now, where they require it, with a 
sharp knife, not with shears. When I say "flowering 
shrubs," I do not mean shrubs in flower, but shrubs that do 
flower. 

Transplant suckers from the hardy flowering shrubs, if 
they have not been done before. Take them up with good 
roots, and support them neatly with stakes. 

Cuttings of young shoots of hardy deciduous shrubs may . 
be planted in mild weather, to root, and form good plants in 
the autumn. Layers may be also formed. 

Protect all the choicer kinds of flowering shrubs, and all 
cuttings of every kind, from severe frosts, by spreading litter 
over them. 

Plant tulips now — always providing the weather is mild — 
to blow late in the year; but they will not be so handsome as 
those which were planted again in September and October. 

Plant any ranunculuses, anemones, &c., you may have 
out of the ground, to come in late blowing; but, like the 
tulips, they wiU not bear such fine blooms. Protect every 
thing from severe weather, as well as you can, this month, 
particularly your choicer sorts of bulbs, and tuberous-rooted 
perennials. 

FEBRUARY. 

February is the first spring month, and the parterre will 
begin to make gradual approaches to gaiety and life. The 
anemones, hepaticas, &c., will now bud and flower, if the 
weather is genial; and the crocus and snowdrop wiU put 
forth their blooms to meet the sun on his returning march. 

About the end of this month, you may begin to sow the 
hardy annuals. I prefer April, but it may not be convenient 
always to wait so long: therefore sow now the seeds of 
hawkweed, lavatera, Venus's looking-glass, Venus's navel- 
wort, candytuft, larkspurs, lupines, convolvulus, flos Adonis 
dwarf lychnis, nigella, annual sunflowers, &-c. 

This month, you may plant and transplant, fearlessly, all 
hardy, fibrous-rooted, flowering perennials and biennials, 
such as saxifrage, gentianella, hepaticas, violets, primroses of 
all sorts, polyanthuses, double daisies, thrift, &c.; rose cam- 
pions, rockets, campanulas, sweet-williams, hollyhocks, scar- 
let lychnis, carnations, pinks, monk's-hood, perennial asters 
and sunflowers, &c. 

Plant cuttings of roses, honeysuckles, and jasmines. 

If the weather is mild, you may transplant many kinds of 



MONTHLY NOTICES, 91 

evergreen shrubs, such as phillyreas, alaternuses, laurels, 
laurustinus, pyracanthas, cistuses, &c. Let there be a ball 
of earth rouud their roots, when you take them out of the 
ground. 

If box edging is required, plant it now: water it, and the 
plants will soon root. 

Dig the borders carefully and lightly, with your garden 
fork ; make the garden look neat, and free from weeds ; 
clear away dead leaves; sweep the lawn and walks ; and let 
spring advance in its proper order. 



Now plant away. Evergreens cannot be moved at a bet- 
ter period. Deciduous flowering shrubs may also be still 
planted, such as Althaea frutex, syringas, roses, honeysuckles, 
mezereons, sumach, laburnums, hlacs, jasmines, candleberry 
myrtles, guelder roses, &c. 

Where the borders require filling up, the following plants 
may still be moved, but do it early in this month ; — 

Lychnises, campanulas, Canterbury bells, tree primroses, 
rockets, sweet-williams, wallflowers, columbines, monk's- 
hood, rose campions, perennial asters and sunflowers, fox- 
gloves, &c. 

Sow perennial and biennial flower seeds about the last 
week in this mouth. Stake your hyacinths, when the flower 
stems are tall. 

Plant out layered carnations of last year, into the places 
where they ought to remain. 

Give fresh earth to any plants in pots, such as carnations, 
pinks, auriculas, double sweetwilhams, double stock gilli- 
flowers, rockets, &c. 

Sow annuals of all hardy kinds. 

Transplant any hardy roses, which you may wish should 
blow late in the year. 

Plant box, for edgings, stiU ; and roll the lawn and grass 
walks. 

Transplant any tenderer kinds of annuals which you may 
have been at the pains of raising in, or procuring/roT/j, a hot 
bed. 

Keep the garden quite free from weeds and dead leaves. 



Now^ place sticks to every plant or stalk requiring support. 
Fix the sticks, or light iron rods, firmly in the ground ; and 
tie the stems to each stick neatly, in two or three places. 



92 MONTHLY NOTICES. 

Some evergreens may yet be removed, as laurels, laurusti- 
nus, Portugal laurel, cistuses, arbutus, magnolias, pyracan- 
thas, &c. 

Propagate auriculas, by slipping oiF their suckers and off- 
sets, this month. 

Sow carnation and polyanthus seeds still. Sow, also, pe- 
rennial and biennial seeds. 

Where any perennial or biennial fibrous-rooted flowers 
are wanted, transplant them only in the first week of this 
month, and they must have each a good ball of earth attached 
to them ; but this work should be completed in February, or 
March at farthest. 

Every sort of annual may now be sow^n. 

Take care of your hyacinths, tulips, ranunculuses, and 
anemones now, for they will be hastening into bloom. 

Place your auriculas, hyacinths, &c., which may be in pots, 
in a sheltered place, during heavy rains or winds ; and shel- 
ter those flowers which are in the borders as well as you can. 
Trim them from dead leaves. 

Keep your lawn and grass vv^alks nicely mown and rolled, 
and your borders free from weeds and rubbish. 



Propagate perennial fibrous-rooted plants by cuttings. 

Propagate double wall-flowers by slips of the young 
shoots of the head. 

Sow annuals for succession ; such as sweet-peas, nastur- 
tiums, lavatera, lupines, flos Adonis, &c. 

Take up those hyacinths, tulips, &c., which have done 
flo^wering, and dry them in the shade to put away. 

Weeds grow quickly now: hoe them up wherever you 
see them. Support all flowers with sticks; train them up- 
right. Clear away all the dead leaves from your carnations, 
and gently stir the earth round them with your smallest 
trowel. 

Look round the borders now, and take oflf irregular shoots. 



Propagate carnations by layers and pipings. Propagate 
double sweet-williams and pinks by layers and cuttings or 
slips. 

Propagate perennial fibrous-rooted plants by cuttings of 
the stalks. 



MONTHLY NOTICES. 93 

Transplant the large annuals from the seedling bed to 
places where they are to remain. Let this be done in 
showery weather, if possible. 

Take up all bulbs, ranunculus, and anemone roots, &c., 
as the flowers and leaves decay. 

Water the delicate plants if the weather proves dry: give 
a moderate watering every evening; but never in the heat 
of the day. 

Sow yet some hardy annuals, such as ten-week stocks, 
virgin stock, &c. 

Plant out China-asters, Chinese hollyhocks, ten-week 
stocks, large convolvulus, &c., but let each root have a ball 
of earth round it. 

Examine the perennial and biennial plants, to cut oflT all 
dead, broken, or decaying shoots. Trim the African and 
French marigolds from their lower straggling shoots, that 
they may present a neat, upright appearance. Trim the 
chrysanthemums, which are apt to branch too near the root, 
and stake them neatly. 

Plant out carnations and pink seedlings into their proper 
places. 

Keep every thing just moderately moist, if there is a long 
drought in this month. 



You may lay carnations and double sweet-williams still; 
but let it be done before the end of the second week in this 
month. 

Propagate pink^^ slips and pipings. 

Transplant the seedling auriculas which were sown last 
year, as also the seedling polyanthus. 

Transplant the perennial and biennial seedlings which 
were not done last month, to remain till October. 

Take up all bulbs as fast as they decay their leavesi If this 
month prove hot and dry, place your potted carnations in a 
sheltered situation, and keep them just moist. 

Support flowering shrubs and plants, and cut away de- 
cayed stems. Keep the bonders clean. Mow the lawn and 
grass walks. Plant autumnal bulbs. 



You may now begin to propagate some donble-flowered 
and approved flbrous-rooted plants the end of the month, if 
they have done flowering; such, for instance, as the double 
9 



94 MONTHLY NOTICES. 

rose campion, catchfly, double scarlet lychnis, double rocket, 
double ragged robin, bachelor's buttons, gentianella, poly- 
anthuses, auriculas, &c. 

Sow auricula and polyanthus seed on a warm, dry day; 
and remove carnation layers to some place where they may 
remain till October to gain strength. 

Sow seeds of bulbs. 

Sow anemone and ranunculus seed. 

Remove all bulbs which have done flowering. 

Cut and trim edgings of box. Clip holly, yew, and pri- 
vet hedges. 

Gather flower seeds. 

Plant autumnal bulbs, if any are still above ground, such 
as colchicums, autumnal narcissus, amaryllis, and autumn 
crocus. 

Trim the flower plants; mow the lawn and grass walks, 
and keep every department in neat order. 

SEPTEMBER. 

Transplant, in any moist or showery weather this month, 
the perennial and biennial seedlings to their proper situa- 
tions, with a ball of earth round their roots. 

Propagate fibrous-rooted plants. 

Prepare the spots where you mean to deposite anemone 
and ranunculus roots any time between the end of this 
month and the end of October; and dig all beds and borders 
which are vacant, to prepare them also for receiving roots 
and plants next month. 

Transplant peonies, flag irises, monk's-hood, fraxinella, 
and such like plants, to part their roo^ and remove each 
root to its destined position. 

Transplant evergreens. 

Plant cuttings of hone^sucklert, and other shrubs. 

Plant hyacinth and tulip roots for early spring bloom. 

Plant box by slips or roots. 

Mow grass lawn and walks. Clear away flower stems, 
and trim flowering plants. 

Sow seeds of bulbous flowers, if not done last month. 



This is a very busy month; for the garden should now be 
cleared and arranged for the season. 

Transplant all sorts of fibrous-rooted perennial and bien- 
nial plants now where they are intended to remain. 



MONTHLY NOTICES. 95 

Put the bulbs into the ground again ; and transplant the 
different layered plants into their respective places. 

Prune flowering shrubs of all sorts. Plant and transplant 
all hardy deciduous shrubs, and their suckers. 

Dig up and part the roots of all flowers which require so 
doing, and replant them. 

Plant cuttings of honeysuckles, laurels, &c. 

Take up the roots of dahlias, and put them carefully away 
till May. 

Trim evergreens. 

Plant box edgings ; cut away the long, sticky roots, and 
trim the tops even. 

Mow grass walks and lawns, and weed gravel walks. 

NOVEMBER. 

Prepare compost for a new year by raking dead leaves, 
soil, sand, &c. in a heap, to turn well over occasionally. 
Pour the brine, soap-suds, &c. from the house over it. 

Transplant still all hardy kinds of flowering shrubs, 
suckers, &c. 

Clear the borders from dead annuals, leaves, stumps, &c.; 
shelter the choice bulbs and double-flowering plants. 

DECEMBER. 

Take care of every thing. Protect the more delicate 
roots from severe frost, by strewing ashes, sand, or litter 
over them. Prune shrubs, and dig between them. 

If the weather is open, you may still plant hardy sorts of 
flowering shrubs."*^ 



96 
CHAPTER VIII. 

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
CALENDAR FOR THE SOUTHERN STATES. 

January. — Sow peas, spinach, lettuce, cabbages, 
radishes, parsley, beets, carrots, salsafy, parsnips, 
turnips, asparagus. Plant horse radish, Irish po- 
tatoes. Transplant cabbages and lettuce. ■■ 

Remarks. — The best variety of peas for this 
month are early frame and bishops, for an early 
crop, and dwarf marrowfat and dwarf green impe- 
rial for a succession. Only a few beets, carrots, 
parsnips, salsafy, and turnips, should be sown this 
month, as they are all very tender while young, and 
consequently easily killed. Endive should be tied 
up for bleaching. It is late to dress artichokes and 
asparagus beds, but if not done before, they must 
now be attended to. Irish potatoes planted in the 
commencement of this month, may have their tops 
killed by frost in February, but will not be injured ; 
towards the last of the month they may be planted 
for a general crop. 

February. — Sow peas, spinach, lettuce, cab- 
bages, radishes, corn, beets, carrots, salsafy, pars- 
nips, turnips, thyme, sage, and other herbs. Plant 
Irish potatoes. Transplant cabbages and lettuce. 

Remarks. — The same varieties of peas may be 
sown in this month as were directed for the last. 
The principal crop of beets and carrots should now 
be sown. The common varieties of spinach 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 97 

should be sown in small quantities once in ten days, 
as it soon runs to seed. 

March. — Sow carrots, beets, Swiss chard, pars- 
nips, salsafy, cabbages, spinach, turnips, leeks, 
tomatoes, peppers, radishes, lettuce, Guinea squash. 
Plant cucumbers, okra, squashes, melons, snap 
beans, cushaws, sewee beans, New Zealand spi- 
nach. Transplant tomatoes, peppers, Guinea 
squash, cabbages, and lettuce. 

Remarks. — All the above vegetables should be 
got in at as early a period as possible. Carrots 
should now be sown for a full crop, and from Eng- 
Ijpi seed. Lettuce should remain where it is 
sown. New Zealand spinach should be sown in 
hills, three feet apart each way. Radishes should 
be sown every three weeks. All Irish potatoes 
should be planted this month. If the season be 
mild, most of the vegetables mentioned in March 
may be sown towards the last of the month. 

April. — Sow carrots, beets, salsafy, turnips, 
cabbages, cauliflowers, brocoli, tomatoes, peppers, 
radishes, lettuce, celery, leeks. Plant okra, snap 
beans, squashes, sewee beans, cucumbers, cushaws, 
melons. Transplant cabbages, tomatoes, peppers, 
Guinea squashes. Prick out celery. 

Remarks. — The sowing of the main crop of car- 
rots for summer and autumn, ought not to be delay- 
ed longer than this month, as they will be easily 
killed when up. The seed should be from Europe, 
or they will run to seed in the fall. Cucumbers, 
squashes, and melons, do not succeed well if de- 
layed until now, but a few may be sown. The 
same remark applies to beets, salsafy, parsnips, 
and turnips. 

May. — Sow cabbages, savoys, carrots, beets, 
9» 



98 THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 

turnips, cauliflowers, brocoli, celery, radishes. 
Plant snap beans. Transplant cabbages. Prick 
out celery. 

Remarks. — There is not much probability of 
either beets, parsnips, carrots, or turnips, succeed- 
ing at this season, especially the last ; yet if want- 
ed, a few may be ventured ; under very favorable 
circumstances, they may succeed. If carrots be 
sown, the ground should be shaded and kept moist,, 
and this continued to the plants sometime after they 
are up, or they will be killed by the hot sun. 

June. — Sow cauliflowers, brocoli, cabbages, car- 
rots, tomatoes. Plant snap beans, okra. Trans- 
plant celery, cabbages, leeks. Prick out cauli- 
flowers, brocoli, and celery. 

Remarks. — This month is generally very dry and 
hot, and all the crops recommended to be sown, 
now, must be protected from the sun : most of 
them should have been sown in Aprils and it is 
only in case of failure or omission, that they should 
now be sown ; the month may be considered bad 
for the sowing of seeds generally. 

July. — Sow early Dutch turnips, ruta baga, car- 
rots, parsnips, cabbages, cauliflowers, brocoli, en- 
dive, radishes, spinach. Plant snap beans, Irish 
potatoes, melons. Transplant cabbages,, celery, 
cauliflowers, brocoli, tomatoes, and leeks. 

Remarks. — A few only of carrots, parsnips^ spi- 
nach, or radishes, should be sown, as it is not very 
probable that they will succeed, unless well pro- 
tected from the sun for some length of time, while 
young. The early Dutch turnips should also be 
sown towards the middle and last of the month, in 
small quantities. The Irish potatoes will be fit for 
use in October, and the tomatoes will furnish a sup- 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 99 

ply when the spring-sown crop has ceased to bear, 
and then continue till killed by a frost. 

August. — Sow peas, early Dutch and other vari- 
eties of turnips, ruta baga, onions, cabbages, cauli- 
flowers, brocoli, black Spanish radishes, carrots, 
beets, parsnips, salsafy, lettuce, and endives. 
Plant snap beans. Transplant cabbages, cauli- 
flowers, brocoli, celery, ruta baga, and endive. 

Remarks. — Not much can be expected from peas 
sown this month, as they will be much crippled by 
the high winds and rain which we usually have ; 
but if much wanted, a few may be ventured. The 
beets and spinach are liable to the attacks of the 
worms, which destroy their leaves : should they 
escape these they will be very fine. 

September. — Sow early Dutch and other varie- 
ties of turnips, ruta baga, beets, Swiss chard, man- 
gle wurzle, carrots, parsnips, salsafy, lettuce, spi- 
nach, cabbages, (English seed) onions, radishes, 
endive. Plant snap beans. Transplant ruta baga, 
cabbages, cauliflowers, brocoli, celery, lettuce, 
leeks, endive. 

Remarks. — In this month the principal crops of 
turnips, beets, carrots, parsnips, &c. should be 
sown, as they will acquire sufficieHt strength to 
withstand the cold weather before the winter sets 
in. When thinning out the ruta baga, the plants 
should be reserved and transplanted out either into 
those spaces where they have failed, or into a 
piece prepared expressly for them. If the cabbage 
seed are not English, they will run to seed in the 
spring without heading. 

October. — Sow cabbages, lettuce, carrots, beets, 
turnips, radishes, spinach, salsafy, parsnips, ruta 



100 THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 

baga. Transplant cabbages, cauliflowers, brocoli, 
onions, lettuce, leeks, and endive. 

Remarks. — If any of the crops recommended 
above have not been sown, they should riot be neg- 
lected longer ; most of them may be sown with 
considerable advantage. The artichokes should in 
this month be attended to, the suckers removed, 
and manure given. Strawberries should be set 
out this month ; they will bear in the ensuing 
spring. 

November. — Sow peas, cabbages, radishes, car- 
rots, spinach, turnips, parsnips, lettuce, beets, sal- 
safy. Plant mazagon and Windsor beans. Trans- 
plant cabbages, lettuce, onions, and leeks. 

Remarks. — The first crop of peas may be sown 
about the commencement of this month, and a 
general crop towards the last, though it is better to 
defer this until the next month. The dwarf mar- 
rowfat and dwarf green imperial are the best varie- 
ties for the sowing. The asparagus beds should 
now be dressed, and a good supply of manure 
given. 

December. — Sow peas, spinach, radishes, car- 
rots, salsafy, lettuce, cabbages, beets, parsnips. 
Plant Irish potatoes, mazagon and Windsor beans. 
Transplant cabbages, lettuce, and onions. 

Remarks. — Any of the variety of peas may be 
sown in this month. The Irish potatoes will come 
up so early as to have their tops destroyed by frosty 
but will not be injured materially, if at all, by this. 
All seeds sown during this month, except spinach^ 
peas, and beans, must be protected in cold weather. 



101 
CHAPTER IX. 

VEGETABLE AND FLOWER GARDEN. 

CALENDAR FOR THE NORTHERN STATES. 

From the Lady'a Annual Register. 

January. — The New Year has come. The 
old one, with its joys, its sorrows, its labors, its 
repose, its temptations, its conquests, its light or 
dark hours, is gone. The preparations for New 
Year are over — the Gifts are all arranged — nothing 
remains but the joyful distribution of them. Much 
is to be regretted in the past year. For the future, 
there should be nothing but hope and good resolu- 
tion. This year is at least now unstained by sin ; 
strive that it may long continue so ; think not of 
the past, except as a warning and encouragement 
for the future, trust humbly in a good Providence, 
and keep boldly on. If you have parted with 
friends during the past year, resolve to bestow 
more kindness and love on those who remain. If 
God has blest you with wealth, dispense it to the 
needy, with a more liberal hand. If your means 
have been lessened, take to yourself a double por- 
tion of content, and show your ingenuity in making 
a little answer. Whatever you do, do well and 
cheerfully. 

February. — Still winter reigns. February has 
not the charm and excitement of January, the New 
Year's holidays, presents, &c., to reconcile us to it. 



102 VEGETABLE AND FLOWER GARDEN. 

It has only cold weather, snow storms, now and 
then a warm day. But the sun is drawing nearer 
to us ; when it does shine, it is to some purpose ; 
and in this month comes the birthday of Washing- 
ton, and that day is frequently celebrated by social 
meetings, balls, and parties. It is also a short 
month, and it is the last month of winter, and we 
bear it as well as we can, because we feel the 
spring, at least in name, is coming. In the latter 
part of the month it is well to sow mignionette in 
pots and boxes in the windows. It brings it for- 
ward early, and it smells so sweet, that one who 
has once enjoyed it will hardly be willing to do 
without it. Parlor flowers should be well watched, 
for some of the nights of this month are very cold. 
The proverb is, — 

" As the days begin to lengthen, 
The cold begins to strengthen," 

and it is not less true of the nights. Many a ten- 
der parlor plant which has lived through December 
and January, is touched by the cold nights of Feb- 
ruary and March. A large cloth thrown over the 
flower stand is a protection. Some persons recom- 
mend a bowl of water to be placed under the cloth 
with the plants. If, notwithstanding all precau- 
tions, they should be touched with the frost, they 
should be sprinkled in the morning with cold water ; 
this will sometimes prevent them from dying. 

March is a cold, blustering month. With us it 
is often the most uncomfortable one in the year. 
The old farmers used to say they could depend on 
"six weeks sledding in March." We have some- 
times, however, a few warm and pleasant days to 
give us a foretaste of spring. It is not desirable 



VEGETABLE AND FLOWER GARDEN. lOS 

that they should continue long enough to bring for- 
ward vegetation in any great degree, for we are 
certain to have cold weather after it. We had bet- 
ter bear patiently the cold and bleak winds while 
we are clad in furs, than be compelled to lay them 
aside only to take them up again. The rains 
which come from time to time are apt to be cold, 
and often mingled with snow. If the weather 
should be warm at the very end of the month, the 
snow-drop may be looked for, the first flower of 
spring, and such a hardy little thing, that it does 
not mind if a snow storm comes along and covers 
it up for a day or two. As soon as the sun melts 
it off, it looks up as bright as ever again. 

April. — If the weather is favorable, and we are 
not visited with snow storms and cold rains, as is 
too often the case, some preparation may now be 
made for a garden. Asparagus beds may be pre- 
pared, beans and peas sowed, potatoes for early use 
may be planted. Housewives will endeavor to 
make preparation for a variety of the fragrant and 
medicinal herbs used in a family, fennel, marjoram, 
sage, parsley, lavender, balm, mint, &c. Garden 
vegetables, lettuce, onions, parsnips, radishes, and 
salsafy, may be sowed. Cucumbers under pots 
and glasses. 

Toward the end of the month flower seeds may 
be sown. If bulbs were put into the ground last 
year, they will begin to be in blossom this month 
in sunny places, which are sheltered from the cold 
winds. The crocuses and snow drops, the narcis- 
suses, will show their flowers, and the crown impe- 
rials, tulips, and hyacinths, will be giving promise 
of their future beauties. The flower beds must 
now be raked fine. If rose bushes and other shrubs 



104 VEGETABLE AND FLOWER GARDEN. 

are to be removed, the best time is soon after the 
frost leaves the ground. The tops of rose bushes 
should be cut ofl', which makes them bloom strong- 
er. Perennial and biennial seeds should be sown 
in a bed by themselves, and moved to the flower 
garden when of a proper size. As a general rule, 
flower seeds are better to be rolled into the ground 
with a roller, or pressed in with a board, as some 
kinds will not otherwise vegetate. It is necessary 
to rake the ground a little before sowing, as it be- 
comes hard by the frequent rains which fall this 
month. The following are some of the seeds 
which may be sown toward the middle and end of 
this month : White Chrysanthemum, Princes Feath- 
er, Red Lavatera, Grand flowering Argemone, 
Night flowering Primrose, Scorzonera, Scarlet Ma- 
lope, White Catchfly, Pot Marigold, African Rose, 
Azure Blue Gilia, Sweet Alyssum, White Candy- 
tuft, Mignionette, and some others. In removing 
plants from one part of the garden to another, take 
up a large portion of the earth, that the roots may 
be disturbed as little as possible. The pretty little 
wild flower, called the May flower, [Epigeia Repens) 
is seen in some parts of the country in the course 
of this month ; the leaves are evergreen under the 
snow, and as soon as this cold covering is removed, 
the little flower appears. It grows in abundance 
at Plymouth, Mass., and is said to have been the 
first flower which saluted the eyes of the Pilgrim 
fathers, after their arrival on these shores, and to 
have received its name from that circumstance. 

May. — Tomatoes may be sov/ed in a warm situ- 
ation. Plant cucumbers, melons, and squashes. 
Plant beans. Weed and thin radishes. Plant 
corn for the table. Weed plants that may have 



VEGETABLE AND FLOWER GARDEN. 105 

come up. Sow turnips and peas. Transplant 
early lettuce. In the middle of the day, when the 
weather is mild, cucumber frames may be opened 
to inure the young plants to the air. But they must 
be carefully shut up at evening. 

This is the time, if the season be favorable, for 
Hyacinths and Narcissuses. There are some 
early Tulips, but none so fine as those which ap- 
pear later. The Dwarf Phlox begins to show its 
lively flowers, and the Dwarf Iris. The Periwin- 
kle is also seen at the end of this month, with its 
pretty blue flowers and myrtle like leaf. The 
seeds to be sown this month are, Morning Glory, 
Starry Ipomea, Nasturtium, Balloon vine, Red four 
o'clock, Violet Zinnia, Yellow Immortal flower, 
Blue Commeiina, Tricolored Amaranthus, Red 
Opium Poppy, French Marigold, Blue Lupine, 
Double Carnation, Poppy, Double purple Balsams, 
Scarlet Cacalia, Wing leaved Schizanthus, Thun- 
bergia, and others. 

June. — Such seeds as were not planted the last 
month, must now be put into the ground. Toward 
the last of the month melons and cucumbers for 
pickling must be sowed. Those cucumbers which 
are under glasses, must be watered and the frames 
lifted up during the day that they may have fresh 
air. It is safest to close them at night, particularly 
in the early part of the month, as the nights are 
occasionally cold. Trenches must be prepared for 
transplanting young celery plants. Onion and as- 
paragus beds must be kept carefully weeded. 
Young vegetables which have been transplanted 
should be watered at night. 

The annuals must be thinned out, and such as 
are wanted to mix wnth the perennials must be 
10 



106 VEGETABLE AND FLOWER GARDEN. 

transplanted the last part of this month, the surface 
of the ground must be kept light, and no weeds 
suffered to remain. The Peoney is now in its 
glory ; many superb varieties of this flower have 
been introduced from China ; the common species 
was introduced into Antwerp a little more than two 
hundred years ago, and then sold for an enormous 
price. It is now common in every garden. It is 
said that there are as many as fifty different spe- 
cies and varieties, some a pure white, blush and 
shades of red and purple. As soon as the foliage 
of the Tulips begins to turn purple, the roots should 
be taken up and laid in a shady place to dry, as 
also the Crocuses. The Crown Imperials should 
also be removed the last of the month. The Hya- 
cinths are longer in coming to maturity ; in about 
two months from the time of blowing, when the 
leaves begin to turn yellow, which is about the 
middle of July, they may be taken up and treated 
in the same manner as the tulips. 

July. — Garden seeds must be gathered as they 
ripen, and arranged, when dried, in paper bags, 
with the name written upon them, ready for the 
next year's planting. Garden seeds for the late 
and winter crops may be sowed. Those cauli- 
flower plants which were sown in May, may be 
now planted out in rows ; they will be ripe in Octo- 
ber and November. Turnip beds may be thinned 
out, but in doing this, care must be taken to pull 
away those only which are the most feeble look- 
ing, and where they are growing too closely to- 
gether. Choose the healthiest plants to remain, 
and let them stand about six inches from each 
other. People who are fond of having crops of 
garden vegetables succeed each other until late in 



VEGETABLE AND FLOWER GARDEN. 107 

the season, will sow peas again this month. On- 
ions which have attained their full size and are be- 
ginning to change to a yellow color, should have 
their tops bent down to the earth, which prevents 
the vigor and juice from running all into the stems. 
The vines of the cucumbers should be disposed in 
straight lines, and the earth carefully dug about the 
stems of the plants. When the weather is hot and 
the ground very dry, the young crops and the plants 
lately transplanted, should be watered. 

The flower garden continues in its glory, in- 
creased if any thing, by the later Roses, the Pinks, 
Carnations, Larkspurs, Feverfew Coreopsis, Phlox- 
es, Canterbury Bell, and many others. The plants 
should be kept neatly tied up to sticks, and the 
flower beds neatly weeded. They require con- 
stant attention, as the weeds as well as the flowers 
know this as their growing time. Flowers which 
have been kept in the house during the winter, are 
thought by some persons to be improved by being 
set out in the garden, the pots sunk into the earth. 
It is often advantageous to them to take them (at 
least the common kinds, such as roses and the 
more hardy geraniums,) from the pots, and place 
them in the ground during the hot weather. Dou- 
ble pinks and carnations may be propagated by 
layers. They can also be increased by piping, 
which is done by cutting off the sprouts entirely, 
and setting them in small pots, which, if covered 
by a tumbler, will form roots. An immense num- 
ber of varieties of carnations and pinks are cultiva- 
ted by florists. 

August. — The weeds grow so fast at this sea- 
son of the year, that they require constant atten- 
tion. Young weeds must be cleared from the beds 



108 VEGETABLE AND FLOWER GARDEN. 

of young plants, and old ones must be cut down 
before their seed ripens, or the wind will scatter it 
about the garden. 

The flowers this month are all of a gorgeous, 
brilliant appearance. There is the Sun Flower, 
the red, red and white Hibiscus, the Double Holly- 
hocks of various colors ; the white and Pyramidal 
Phlox, the Tiger Lily. Not much is to be done in 
the flower garden, but to save seeds, as they become 
ripe ; cut down decayed plants, and tie up and 
trim others of their superfluous foliage. The ar- 
bors are now fully covered with odoriferous vines, 
and are a delightful retreat toward evening, when 
the honeysuckles give out their most delicious odor. 

September. — There is not much to be done with 
the garden now but to enjoy its fruits, and its bril- 
liant though somewhat gaudy flowers. One of the 
most beautiful of them is the Dahlia, which has, 
within a few years, been introduced into the gar- 
dens of New England. It was not much cultiva- 
ted in England until the year 1814. It is a native 
of Mexico, and was named after a Swedish bota- 
nist of the name of Dahl, a pupil of the celebrated 
Linnaeus. The first introduced into Europe was a 
purple one, in 1789, which was single. Since 
then there have been very numerous and beautiful 
varieties introduced. They are produced either 
from the seeds or by dividing the roots. They 
will flower the first year from the seed, but very 
few will be double. The finest varieties are prop- 
agated by dividing the roots, which are tuberous, 
and resemble the sweet potatoe. As soon as the 
root has blackened the tops, they should be dug up 
and put into a warm, dry cellar, secure from frost. 
When the spring returns, they must be divided by a 



VEGETABLE AND FLOWER GARDEN. 109 

sharp knife, being careful to leave a bud on each 
bulb, or else they will not grow. Gardeners also 
raise them by cuttings. 

October. — Though the flower garden is now 
hardly beautiful enough to lead us to meet the fogs of 
a chilly October morning, yet in the middle of the 
day it still looks brilliant, with its high colored, but 
scentless flowers. The sweet Alyssum, however, 
does not deserve the latter appellation, and that 
may still be found by the side of the modest and 
ever welcome Heart's-ease, which, under any of 
its names, or of whatever species, deserves all the 
praise of the hundred and one sonnets which have 
been written in its honor. 

Bulbous roots may be planted this month. Holes 
should be dug one foot and a half deep, and filled 
with a previously prepared compost of one third 
fine river sand, one third decayed scrapings of the 
cowyard, and one third well rotted pasture turf. 
Polyanthus, Narcissus, Peonies, Crown Imperials, 
and Lilies should be planted five inches deep from 
the top of the bulb. Hyacinths four inches ; Tu- 
lips, Narcissus, and Jonquils three inches, and Cro- 
cuses and Snowdrops two inches. 

During this month it is well to dress asparagus 
beds. This will be done by cutting down all the 
weeds into the alleys, digging these one spade 
deep, and spreading the earth evenly over the beds. 
The old beds must be covered with quite rotten 
manure, and afterward with the earth from the 
alleys. Remember to carry away, immediately, 
the stalks of the old plants and the weeds. In the 
latter part of the month, (if the weather be dry,) 
the carrots and potatoes may be dug up and carried 
into the cellar for winter use. All the spare 
10* 



110 VEGETABLE AND FLOWER GARDEN. 

ground too should be well dug and trenched. The 
baking and other winter pears and apples should 
be carefully gathered, not bruised. The raspber- 
ries may be pruned this month, and the young 
suckers removed to create new plants. Make fresh 
layers of carnations. Dig and dress up the flower 
borders, and transplant such flowers as may be 
found necessary. Divide the roots of others that 
have increased too much. Prune and plant all flow- 
ering shrubs and evergreens. Weed the gravel 
walks frequently and thoroughly. 

November. — In the flower garden clear all the 
beds from dead annual plants, pulling them out by 
their roots. Cut down, too, all the dead stalks of 
perennials, then hoe the borders of a dry day, clear 
away the weeds, and rake the whole smooth. The 
soil in the spring will be greatly improved by being 
manured at this time, for the frost and sun and air 
all contribute to render it fine and mellow for the 
spring crops. 

December. — The garden is hard bound by the 
frost, or covered over with its garment of snow ; it 
aflbrds now no occupation or pleasure. The green- 
house, to those who are so fortunate as to possess 
a luxury of this kind, must take its place. For 
lack of this, a flower stand, filled Avith flowering 
shrubs, is a source of pleasure. Care must be 
taken to keep the leaves of parlor plants washed 
clean, the earth moist, and loosened about the 
roots. If the plants are in a room which is daily 
swept, it is better to throw a large cloth over them 
to protect them from the dust, which is very injuri- 
ous to plants. 



CHAPTER X. 

MANAGEMENT OF PLANTS IN ROOMS. 

From tbeLady'a Boole of Flowers and Poetry." 

Perhaps a few hints on the management of plants 
in rooms, may not be miacceptable to our readers. 
We, therefore, extract from Paxton's Magazine of 
Botany, the following observations : — 

" Hints on the general management of plants are 
attended with considerable difficulty ; every genus 
requiring some little variation, both in soil, water, 
and general treatment. If the room where the 
plants are intended to be placed, is dark and close, 
but few will ever thrive in it j if, on the contrary, it 
is light and airy, with the windows in suitable as- 
pect to receive the sun, plants will do nearly as 
well as in a greenhouse. If observed to suffer, 
the effects may be traced to these causes, either 
want of proper light and air — injudicious water- 
ing — iilthiness collected on the leaves — or being 
potted in unsuitable soil.. 

" 1. Wa7it of proper light and air, is perhaps the 
most essential point of any to be considered ; for, 
however well all other requisites are attended to, a 
deficiency of these will always cause the plant tQ> 
grow weak and sickly. Let them always be pla••^ 
ced as near the light as they can conveniently 
stand and receive as much air as can be ^idmitted 
when the weather will allow. Thos$ persons who 
have no other place than the house^o keep them in, 
will find that they derive immense advantage from 



112 MANAGEMENT OF PLANTS IN ROOMS. 

being, during fine weather in spring or autumn, 
turned out of doors in the evening, and taken in 
again in the morning, the night-dews contributing 
greatly to their heahh and vigor. 

"2. Injudicious watering does more injury to 
plants in rooms than we imagine. To prevent the 
soil ever having an appearance of dryness, is an 
object of importance in the estimation of very 
many ; they, therefore, water to such an excess 
that the mould becomes sodden, and the roots per- 
ish. Others, to avoid this evil, give scarcely water 
enough to sustain life. This, however, is by no 
means so common a practice ; for, in general, if 
any thing appears to be the matter with the plant, 
large doses of water are immediately resorted to, 
for an infallible restorative. This overplus of 
water will show its bad effects by the very dark 
color, and flabby disposition of the leaves : but if 
the plant receives too little water, its leaves will 
turn yellow, and eventually die. 

" The best plan is, to always allow the soil in 
the pot to have the appearance of dryness (but 
never sufficient to make the plant flag,) before a 
supply of water is given, which should then be 
pretty copious ; but always empty it out of the pan 
or feeder, in which the pot stands, as soon as the 
soil is properly drained. The water used for the 
purpose ought always to be made about the same 
temperature as the room in which the plants grow ; 
never use it fresh from the pump, either let it stand 
in a room all night, or take ofl" the chill by a little 
warm water, otherwise the growth of the plants 
will be much checked. 

" 3. Extraneous matter collected on the leaves 
may either arise from insects or dust ; the former 



MANAGEMENT OF PLANTS IN ROOMS. 113 

may be speedily remedied, by placing the plants 
under a hand-glass, or any thing that is convenient, 
and burning some tobacco until they become well 
enveloped in the smoke ; and the latter may be re- 
moved by occasionally washing them on the head 
with pure water, either by means of a syringe, the 
nose of a watering pan, or with a sponge, when 
the dust still adheres. 

" Bulbs of most sorts flourish in rooms with less 
care than most other plants. Hyacinths should be 
planted in autumn. Fill the pots with light rich 
soil, and plant the bulbs so shallow that nearly 
half the bulb stands above the soil, place the pots 
in the open air, and cover them six or eight inches 
with rotten bark. During spring, take them out as 
they are wanted to bring into flower, and set them 
in the window of a warm room, where they will 
be exposed to the sun. When the leaves begin to 
decay after flowering, give them no water, when 
the leaves are dead, take them out of the soil, and 
lay them in an airy situation for planting. 

" If grown in water-glasses, they require to be 
placed in a light airy situation, and the water must 
be changed every three or four days." 



114 



CHAPTER XL 



FLORA S REVEALINGS. 



Acacia. Chaste Love. 

Acanthus, The Arts. 

Almond. Heedlessness. 

Aloe. Acute Sorrow or Af- 
fliction. 

Althma Frutex. Persuasion. 

Amaranth. Immortality. 

Ambrosia. Love returned. 

American Cowslip, You are 
my Divinity. 

American Elm. Patriotism. 

American Linden. Matrimo- 
ny. 

American Star-Wort. Wel- 
come to a Stranger. 

Anemone. Sickness. 

Apple- Tree Blossom. Fame 
speaks him great and good. 

Ash. Grandeur: 

Ash-Leaved Trumpet-Flower. 
Separation. 

Aspen-Tree. Lamentation. 

B. 
Bachelor^ s Button. I with the 

morning's love have oft 

made sport. 
Balm, A cure. 
Balsam. Impatience. 
Barberry, Sourness. 
Bay-Berry. Instruction, 
Bay-Leaf. I change but in 

dying. 



Bay- Wreath. The Reward of 
Merit. 

Beech-Tree. Grandeur. 

Bell-Flower. Constancy. 

Birch. Gracefulness. 

Bird-Cherry. Hope. 

Black Poplar. Courage. 

Black-Thorn. Difficulty. 

Blue Bottle Centuary. Deli- 
cacy. 

Blue Pyramidal Bell Flower. 
Constancy. 

Box. Stoicism. 

Bramble. Remorse. 

Branch of Currants. You 
please all. 

Branch of Thorns. Severity 
or Rigor. 

Bud of a White Rose. — A 
Heart ignorant of Love. 

Butter- Cup. Childishness. 

Butterfly Orchis. Gaiety. 

C. 

Cabbage, Profit. 

Canterbury Bell. Gratitude. 

Cardinals Flower, Distinc- 
tion. 

Catalpa Tree. Beware of the 
coquette. 

Cedar of Lebanon. Incorrup- 
tible. 

Cedar Tree. Strength, 



FLORA S REVEALINGS. 



115 



Chamomile. Energy in ad- 
versity. 
Cherry Tree Blossom. Spirit- 
ual beauty. 
Chesnut Tree. Render me 

justice. 
China Aster or Chinese Star- 

xBort. Variety. 
China or Indian Pink. Aver- 
sion, 
China Rose. Beauty always 

new. 
CocWs Comb, or Crested Ama- 
ranth, Singularity. 
Common Bramble. Envy. 
Common Cactus, or Indian 

Fig. I burn. 
Common Laurel in Flower. 

Perfidy. 
Common Reed. Complais- 
ance. 
Common Thistle. Importu- 
nity. 
Coriander. Concealed mer- 
it. 
Cowslip. Pensiveness. 
Cranberry. Hardiness. 
Creeping Cereas. Horror. 
Crocus. Cheerfulness. 
Cross of Jerusalem. Devo- 
tion. 
Crown Imperial. Majesty 

and power. 
Cypress. Despair. 
Cypress Tree. Death and 
Eternal Sorrow. 

D. 

Dahlia. Instability. 
Daisy. Innocence. 
Damask Rose. Freshness of 

complexion. 
Dandelion. Oracle. 
Dew Plant. A Serenade. 



Double Daisy. Participation. 
Dragon Plant. Snare. 
Dried Flax. Utility. 

E. 

Elder. Zealousness. 

Elm. Dignity. 

Endive. Frugality. 

Ever- Flowering Candy- Tuft. 

Indifference. 
Evergreen, Poverty. 
Everlasting. Never-ceasing 

Remembrance. 

F. 

Fennel. Worthy all praise. 
Fern. Fascination. 
Fig- Argument. 
Fig-Tree. Prolific. 
Filbert. Reconciliation. 
Fir. Time. 
Flax. Fate. 
Flower of oM Hour. Delicate 

beauty. 
Forget me-not. True Love, 
Frankincense. The incense 

of a faithful heart. 
French Honeysuckle. Rustic 

Beauty. 
French Marygold. Jealousy. 
Full Blown Rose. Beauty. 

G. 

Garden Marygold. Uneasi- 
ness, 

Garden Ranunculus. You are 
rich in attraction. 

Garden Sage. Esteem, 

Glory Flower, Glorious 
Beauty. 

Grape, Wild, Charity, 

Grass. Submission 

Great Floicered Evening Prim- 
rose. Inconstancy. 



116 



FLORA S REVEALINGS. 



H. 

Hare-Bell. Delicate and 
Lonely as this Flower. 

Hawthorn. Hope. 

Hazel. Reconciliation. 

Heath. Solitude. 

Hellebore. Calumny. 

Hemlock. You will cause my 
Death. 

Hickory. Glory. 

Hoarhound. Frozen Kind- 
ness. 

Holly. Foresight. 

Hollyhock. Fecundity. 

Honesty. Honesty. 

Hop. Injustice. 

Horse Chesnut. Luxuriancy. 

Hundred-Leaved Rose. Grace. 

Haycinth. Play or Games. 

Hydranger. Boaster. 

I. 

Iceland Moss. Health. 
Ice Plant. You freeze me. 
Indian Cress. Resignation. 
Iris. Message. 
Ivy. Fidelity. 



Japan Rose. Beauty is your 

only attraction. 
Juniper. Asylum. 

K. 

Kennedia, Mental Beauty. 
King-Cup. I wish I was rich. 

L. 

Laburnum, Pensive Beauty. 
Lady's Slipper. Capricious 

Beauty. 
Larkspur. Levity. 
Laurel. Glory. 



Laurel-Leaved Magnolia. 
Dignity. 

Lavender. Assiduity, 

Lemon. Zest. 

Lettuce. Cold-Hearted. 

Lichen. Solitude. 

Lilac. Forsaken. 

Lily of the Valley. Return of 
Happiness. 

Lime or Linden Tree. Conju- 
gal Fidelity. 

Live Oak. Liberty. 

Lobelia. Arrogance. 

Locust, Vicissitude. 

London-Pride. Frivolity. 

Lotus-Flower. Silence. 

Love lies a-Bleeding. Hope- 
less not Heartless. 

Lucerne. Life. 

Lupine. Voraciousness. 

Lythrum. Pretensio^i. 

M, 

Madder. Calumny. 
Maize. Plenty. 
Mallow. Sweet Disposition. 
Mandrake. Rarity. 
Maple. Reserve. 
Majoram. Blushes. 
Marsh Mallozv. Humanity. 
Marygold. Despair. 
May Rose. Precocity. 
Meadow Saffron. My best 

days are past. 
Mignonette. Your qualities 

surpass your charms. 
Misletoe. Obstacles to be 

overcome or surmounted. 
Mock Orange. Counterfeit. 
Moss. Recluse. 
Moss Rose, Voluptuous 

Love. 
Motherwort. Concealed 

Love. 



FLORAS REVEALINGS. 



117 



Mountain Aah. Prndence. 
Mulberry Tree. Wisdom. 
Mushroom.. Su^'picion. 
Musk Rose. Capricious 

Beauty. 
Myrtle. Love. 

N. _ 
Narcissus. Egotism. 
Nasturtium. Patriotism. 
Nettle. Slander. 
Night- Blooming Cereus. Tran- 
sient Beauty. 

O. 

Oak. Hospitality. 

Oats. The witching soul of 

music, hers. 
Oleander. Beware. 
Olive. Peace. 
Orange Flowers. Chastity. 
Orange Tree. Generosity. 
Osier, Frankness. 



Poppy. Consolation to the 

sick. 
Prick ly Pea r. S ati re . 
Pride of China. Dissension. 
Primrose. Early Youth. 
Pyrus Japonica. Fairies' 

Fire. 

R. 
Ragged Rohhin. Wit. 
Red Mulberry. Wisdom. 
Red Pink. Lively and pure 

love. 
Rose. Genteel, Pretty. 
Rose, Acacia. Elegance. 
Rose Campion. You are 
without pretension. 
Rosemary. Fidelity. 
Rudbeckia. Justice. 
Rue. Grace, or Purification. 
Rush. Docility. 



Palm. Victory. 

Pans'e or Heart's Ease. 
You occupy my thoughts. 

Parsley. Feast or Banquet. 

Passion Flower. Religious 
Superstiton. 

Pea. Anappointed meeting. 

Peach Blossom. I am your 
capdve. 

Penny Royal. Flee away. 

Peony. Bashful shame. 

Persimon. Bury me amid 
Nature's Beauties. 

Pine. Pity. 

Pine Apple. Yon are Per- 
fect. 

Plum Tree. Independence. 

Pomegranate. Foolishness. 

11 



S. 
Flower. 



Do not 



Saffron 
abuse. 

Saffron Crocus. Mirth, 

Scarlet Floiocred tpomcEa. 
Attachment. 

Scarlet Fuchsia. Taste. 

Scarlet Geranium. Prefer- 
ence 

Scarlet Nasturtium. Splen- 
dor. 

Scotch Fir. Elevation. 

Small While Violet. Candor 
and Innocence. 

Snap Dragon. Presump- 
tion. 

Snow Ball. Thoughts 
Heaven. 

Snow Drop. Consolation 

Sorrel. Wit ill-timed. 

Southeryi Wood. Jest 
Bantering. 



of 



Ill 



FLORA S REVEALINGS. 



Spanish Jasmine. Sensual- 
ity. 

Stinging Nettle, Cruelty, 

Strawberry. Perfect Good- 
ness. 

Sun Flower. False Riches. 

Sweet Briar. Poetry. 

Sweet Pea. Delicate Pleas- 
ure. 

Sweet Violet. Modesty. 

Sweet William. Craftiness. 

Sycamore. Woodland Beau- 
ty. 

T. 

Tansy. Resistance. 

Thorn Apple. Deceitful 

Charms. 
Thyme. Activity. 
Tiger-Flower. For once 

may Pride befriend me. 
Tulip. Declaration of Love. 
Turnip. Charity. 

V. 

Verbena. Sensibility. 

Vernal Grass. Poor but 
Happy. 

Vine. Drunkenness. 

Virginian Spider Wort. Mo- 
mentary Happiness. 

W. 

Wall Flower. Fidelity in Mis- 
fortune. 
Walnut. Intellect. 
Water Melon. Bulkiness. 



Weeping Willow. Melan- 
choly. 

Wheat. Riches. 

White Jasmine. Amiable- 
ness. 

White Lily. Purity and Mod- 
esty. 

While Mullein. Good Na- 
ture. 

White Oak. Independence. 

White Pink. Talent. 

White Poplar. Time. 

White Poppy. Sleep of the 
Heart. 

White Rose, Dried. Death 
preferable to loss of Inno- 
cence. 

White Violet. Purity of Sen- 
timent. 

Willow. Forsaken. 

IVillow Herb Pretension. 

Winter Cherry. Deception. 

Witch Ha-.el. A Spell. 

Wood Sorrell Maternal Ten- 
derness. 

Wormwood. Absence. 

Y. 

Yellow Carnation. Disdain. 
Yelloio Day Lily. Coquetry. 
Velloio Gentian. Ingratitude. 
Yelloic Iris. Flame of Love. 
Yellow Rose. Infidelity. 
Yew. Sorrow. 
Z. 
Zinnia. Absence. 



119 



CHAPTER XII. 

"We add this chapter, which we have selected 
from Mrs. Laudon's Ladies'* Companion to the Flower 
Garden, that our readers may have the benefit of 
her very excellent remarks on Planting, and on the 
Gathering and Preservation of Seeds. 

PLANTING. 

Planting is the operation of inserting plants in the 
soil, either in the free ground or in pots. The 
simplest kind of planting is that which consists in 
removing small seedling plants, or such as have 
been struck from cuttings or layers ; and this is 
commonly performed by making a round hole with 
a dibber, and putting in the root of the plant to the 
same depth as it had been covered with earth be- 
fore, and making it fast by thrusting the dibber into 
the firm earth beside the hole and pressing it to the 
root. In this operation, the great art is to make 
the root fast at the lower extremity. Thus, in 
planting common seedlings of annuals or even 
cabbage-plants, if the earth be pressed close to the 
root at the upper part and not at the extreme points, 
the success will hardly be complete ; and in tender 
plants, or in a dry season, a failure will be the re- 
sult. In planting plants of a larger size, a small 
pit should be opened by the spade or trowel ; the 
bottom of the pit having been formed into a cone 
or small hill, the plant should be placed in the cen- 
tre, and the roots spread out equally over it on ev- 



120 PLANTING. 

ery side. The roots are then to be covered with 
soil gently pressed over them ; and the operation 
must be finished by watering so as to consolidate 
the soil equally, without making it firmer on one 
part of the roots than another. If the soil should 
have been previously dug, trenched, or loosened to 
the depth of a foot, or probably two feet or three 
feet, the pit should not be made so deep as to throw 
the neck or collar of the plant below, or even on a 
level with the surface, when the soil is consolidated 
by watering. On the contrary, it must be left oi 
such a height above it, as that when the soil is 
finally consolidated by its own gravity, influenced 
by the weather, the neck shall still be above the 
general surface of the ground, and the plant stand 
on a small hillock. This condition of planting can- 
not be too carefully attended to ; for nothing can 
be more injurious to transplanted plants than having 
the neck buried more than it was in a natural state. 
Nothing is more common than too deep planting ; 
and the temptation to it is the greater, because 
deep planted plants, from having the roots more 
accessible to moisture, are more certain of grow- 
ing the first year, and are less in want of mulch- 
ing to exclude the heat and drought, and of staking 
to prevent them from being moved by the wind. 
Hence, in planting trees or shrubs, it is of the 
greatest importance, not oidy with a view to their 
future growth, but also to their natural appearance 
above the surface, to have them planted on little 
hillocks, sjreater or less in height, according as the 
soil may have been moved to a greater or less 
depth, either in the operation of digging the pit in 
firm soil, or in planting in soil which has been 
moved by digging, or trenching, or otherwise. In 



PLAN'TING. 121 

small gardens it is generally desirable, for the sake 
of producing immediate effect, to plant plants of 
considerable size ; and in this case, in addition to 
the precautions which have been already men- 
tioned, it is desirable to plant by what is called 
fixing with water. This operation is performed in 
the following manner : the hole being properly 
prepared, the plant placed in it, and the roots 
spread out on every side, and extended as far as 
they will go, one person holds the plant upright, a 
second sprinkles earth over the roots, and a third 
supplies water from a watering-pot, with a :ose on, 
if the plant be small, and without a rose, if it be a 
tree of six feet or eight feet in height, holding the 
pot as high above his head as his arms will reach. 
The weight of the water coming down from such 
a height, consolidates the soil about the roots, and 
fixes them in such a manner, as to render the 
plant, if it has been carefully taken up, almost in 
the same state as it was in before removing. 
Large trees or shrubs, if planted in this manner in 
the autumn, and staked, where there is danger from 
high v/inds, will grow, and even flower and fruit, 
the following year, as well as if they had not been 
removed. In this kind of planting with large 
plants, the hillock, left after the operation is finish- 
ed, should not be less than a foot or eighteen 
inches above the surrounding surface ; and to 
lessen evaporation during .the ensuing summer, 
the hillock should, if possible, be covered with 
short litter, moss, turf turned upside down, or even 
small stones, for the first year. In staking large 
plants of this kind, the stakes should be placed 
close to the stem of the plant, in which position 
they are much less likely to injure the fibrous- 
li* 



122 PLANTING. 

roots, than when phiced at a distance from the 
tree ; and the stakes should be made last to the 
stem of the plant, by a piece of straw or hay rope, 
or by a piece of twisted matting, or any kind of 
cord ; the part of the stem to which the stake is 
tied, having previously had a smali handful of 
straw, or moss, or mat, bound round it to prevent 
the tie from galling the bark of the stem, and pre- 
venting its increase during summer. These stakes 
should remain for a 3 ar or sometimes two years, 
according to the size of the^^lant and its facility 
of makinfT roots. Ii! oenerai.ihe sc'-^er the stakes 
are taken away the better; because ■ ue motion of 
the stem by the wind, is essential to its increasing 
in thl K-ness. In this matter much must be left to 
the discretion of the planter, who mi. -4 always bear 
in mind that a staked plant is in a most unnatural 
posiiion ; and also, that if the tree should lean 
somewhat to ore side for some years after plant- 
ing, it will ultimately become more or less erect ; 
and that a strong, vigorous-looking plant leaning 
a little to one side, affords a greater evidence of its 
being secure and in sound health, than a straight, 
erect plant kept in that position by a stake. In 
the case of planting trees with stems three or four 
inches in diameter, ia exposed situations, two or 
three stakes may be used, placed at a short dis- 
tance from the base of the stem and leaning 
towards it ; and where they are made fast, they 
should be joined by matting, hay-ropes, or some 
other soft material, so as not to injure or confine 
the bark. Before transplanting trees of a timber 
size, the main roots arc frequently cut at the dis- 
tance of five feet or six feet from the stem, a year 
previously to transplanting; in consequence of 



PLANTING. 123 

which, they send out fibres which in the course of 
the summer become small roots, so that when trans- 
planted, the tree, instead of drawing its principal 
nourishment from spongioles at the distance of 
twenty feet or perhaps thirty feet from the stem, is 
enabled to draw it from the distance of six or eight 
feet, and thus to continue growing, though not with 
the same degree of vigor as if it had not been trans- 
planted. Some kinds of trees, when of a large 
size, such as the Sycamore, the Lime, the Horse- 
chesnut, and a few others, may be transplanted 
without this precaution; but in this rase, the ope- 
ration must be performed in autumn, as soon as the 
leaves have dropped, in order to give the roots 
time to form some fibres during the winter; and 
the greater the distance from the stem at which 
the roots are cut, the greater will be the success. 
Large trees with wide-spreading roots when trans- 
planted, seldom require to be staked, because the 
roots form a broad base, which prevents the stem 
from being blown to one side. Where there is 
danger anticipated from high winds, the tree may 
be secured by three guy-ropes tied to the upper 
part of the stem, and made fast to stakes driven 
into the ground at such a distance from ihe tree as 
that the ropes may form an angle with the ground 
of 45^; or the stronger roots may be kept in their 
})osition by stakes driven into the ground with 
their heads beneath the surface of the soil, the 
main roots being made fast to them by cords. 

In all cases of transplanting deciduous trees, 
with the exception of the Beech and the Hornbeam, 
some pruning should be given to the top, so as to 
lessen the number of branches and leaves which 
are to be supplied by the root. The quantity of 



124 PLANTING. 

branches that are required to be removed, will de- 
pend partly on the kind of tree, and partly on the 
intention of the planter, but mainly on the climate 
and soil. Beech trees, as already mentioned, are 
injured when transplanted, by having many branch- 
es removed, and often die in consequence. Syca- 
mores and all the Acer tribe, having numerous 
fibres near the main stem, require but little pruning 
of the head. The same may be said of the Yew 
and the Holly, the Lime and the Elm. When the 
object of the planter is to produce immediate effect 
by a bulky head, all the branches may be left on, 
whatever may be the kind of tree ; but in that case 
the tree will produce only leaves for a number of 
years, or if it produce shoots they will not exceed 
a few lines in length. Ultimately, if the soil be 
poor and dry, the tree will probably perish ; but if 
the soil should be good and moist, and the climate 
also moist, the tree will, in time, become vigorous, 
and produce shoots. Where the climate is moist, 
a.nd the soil good, and also moist, any tree may be 
transplanted without pruning the branches ; be- 
cause the fibres it will produce in such a soil and 
climate, will be sufficient to supply the moisture 
transpired by the leaves. But where the climate 
is dry and the soil also dr}^, no large tree can be 
safely transplanted with all its branches ; because 
the transpiration by the leaves wall be much great- 
er than the moisture which can possibly be absorb- 
ed by the roots. Hence, in the dry climate of the 
Continent, all trees with stems above an inch or 
two in diameter, have their branches entirely cut 
off, always excepting the Beech and Hornbeam, 
the Yew*, and all the Pine and Fir, and Cypress 
tribes. Even in this country, in Evelyn's time, 



PLANTING. 125 

this was the practice; and the late Sir Joseph 
Banks, when he planted groups of trees with stems 
five inches or six inches in diameter, on a portion 
of Hounslow Heath, which was allotted to his resi- 
dence there, planted only stumps ten feet or twelve 
feet high, which stumps are now finely-headed 
trees, conspicuous from the road in passing Spring 
Grove. Much has of late been written on the sub- 
ject of transplanting large trees, by Sir Henry 
Steuart and others ; and the practice has been re- 
commended of leaving on the whole of the head. 
Experience, however, has proved that this can 
only be done with advantage, iinder certain circum- 
stances. 

Planting in pots, when the plants are of the very 
smallest size, may be efi'ected by a small dibber, as 
in planting in the common soil ; but it is more fre- 
quently done on the principle of planting in pits ; 
that is, the pot being properly drained by a few 
potsherds being placed over the hole in the bottom 
of the pot, and an inch or two of soil placed over 
them, according to the size of the pot, the young 
seedling or newly-struck cutting is held with one 
hand, and soil sprinkled over the roots by a trowel 
with the other. When the pot is filled, the soil is 
consolidated by lifting the pot with both hands a 
few inches high, and setting down once or twice 
with a slight jar ; afterwards supplying water so 
as to moisten the whole of the soil in the pot. 
The thumb, or a potting-stick, should previously be 
passed round the inner edge of the pot, so as to 
firm the soil round the rim ; otherwise the water is 
liable to run down round the edge of the pot, with- 
out moistening the soil in the middle. Immediate- 
ly after planting, the pot should be set in a position 



126 PLANTING. 

where it can be shaded during sunshine ; but on no 
account should tender plants be shaded during 
cloudy weather, or covered with an opaque cover- 
ing during night, unless for the purpose of protect- 
ing them from cold. Of course the after treatment 
of every plant in a pot, must depend on its nature ; 
all that it is necessary at present to treat of, is the 
manner of planting. 

Transplanting plants which have already been 
grown in pots, is either effected by removing the 
ball or mass of earth containing the roots entire, or 
by gently breaking the ball in pieces, and stretch- 
ing the roots out on every side. When the ball is 
not broken, the operation is called shifting. Plants 
are often reared in pots, on account of their tender 
nature when young, or for the convenience of 
transporting them to a distance, though they are in- 
tended ultimately to be planted in the open ground. 
In almost all cases of this kind, the ball should be 
broken, and the pit having been prepared with the 
greatest care, as in common planting, the fibrous 
roots should be stretched out in it as far as they 
will go on every side. Hence, a plant which has 
been grown in a very small pot, when it is to be 
transplanted into the open garden, may often re- 
quire a pit three feet or four feet in diameter. 
There is not perhaps an operation in the whole 
circle of gardening, that affords a higher gratifica- 
tion to the planter, than transplanting plants from 
pots when the pits and soil are properly prepared, 
and the roots carefully stretched out without being 
bruised or broken. In consequence of the extra- 
ordinary sources of nutriment which are thus af- 
forded to the plant, and of the greatly increased 
power given to the roots, the shoots which it 



PLANTING. 127 

makes the first year are extraordinary, and evince 
a degree of vigor, which none but a gardener of ex- 
perience, could believe possible. On the other 
hand, when a plant in a pot is turned out into a pit, 
however well the soil may be prepared, if the 
roots are not stretched out, it may remain for many 
years without growing much faster than it previous- 
ly did in the pot. This is often the case with the 
more rare species of the Pine and Fir tribe, and 
with Magnolias and other plants kept in pots by 
nurserymen ; and it is further attended by this evil, 
that the plants are easily blown to one side by the 
wind. In the case of surface-rooted plants, such 
as Pines, if they have been some years in the pot, 
they never send out roots sufficient to keep them 
upright ; and hence the Pinaster and Stone Pine, 
which are almost always kept in pots in British 
nurseries, are generally found leaning to one side, 
in plantations in this country. It is necessary, 
however, to make the distinction between plants 
newly planted in pots, and those which have been 
in pots for two or three years ; for the former may 
perhaps have few roots which have reached the 
sides of the pot, as in the case of China Roses 
struck and potted early in the season, and planted 
out the same summer, and which, of course, may 
be planted out without breaking the ball. The 
same observation will apply to all other plants in 
pots, that have not their fibrous roots somewhat 
woody ; and also to all hair-rooted plants, such as 
Heaths, Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Arbutus, and in 
general to all the Ericaceae, which having at no 
age large woody roots, may always be transplanted 
from pots with the balls entire. 

It may here be observed, that large shrubs of 



128 PLANTING. 

almost all the Ericaceae may be transplanted at 
almost any age, with less danger than most other 
plants, as from the slender and fibrous nature of 
the great mass of their roots, they are less liable 
to injury than woody-rooted plants. All that is re- 
quired is, that they should be taken up with a large 
ball of earth, and that when replanted, they should 
be abundantly supplied with water. 

Hitherto nothing has been said especially appli- 
cable to evergreens, whether in the open ground or 
in pots. These being at every season of the year 
more or less in a growing state, it is always desi- 
rable to transplant them with balls ; and it is only 
young plants of evergreens, such as seedling Hol- 
lies, Portugal Laurels, and young cuttings or layers 
of the common Laurel, Laurustinus, Sweet Bay, 
Phillyrea, Alaternus, Junipers, &c., which can be 
sent to any distance with a; certainty of growing 
Mdthout balls. The common Holly, when it is 
above three or four feet in height, requires to be 
taken up with a ball, and that ball carefully pre- 
served by being tied up in a mat — or, according to 
the Dutch practice, put into a basket of wicker- 
work. The same remark will apply to Arborvitae, 
Junipers, Arbutus, Rhododendrons, Box, Phillyreas, 
and even the common Laurel. 

The best season for transplanting all deciduous 
trees and shrubs, is the autumn ; because the plant 
has time to produce some fibres, and accommodate 
itself to its new soil and situation during the win- 
ter, so as to be prepared to grow freely the follow- 
ing spring. Evergreens may also be transplanted 
in autumn, or at any time in open, moist weather, 
during autumn, winter, or early spring. In dry or 
frosty weather, 2t is always dangerous to remove 



PRESERVATION OF SEEDS. I29 

them ; because the sap in an evergreen is more or 
less in motion at every season of the year, and the 
pkmt is never so completely dormant as in the case 
of deciduous trees. Formerly it was thought that 
the best season for removing evergreens, was in 
the latter part of summer, shortly after they had 
completed their year's growth; but this doctrine 
was only acted upon in the time of Miller and be- 
fore, when there were comparatively few species 
of evergreens in British gardens, and it has been 
recently found by Mr. McNab, (see his Treatise on 
Tra/isplanting Evergreens,) that evergreens may 
be transplanted with much greater safety in mild 
Aveather in autumn or winter, than at any other 
period of the year. Herbaceous plants may, in 
general, be transplanted at any season, when they 
are not in flower or coming into flower ; but the 
safest time for perennials is in autumn, after they 
have ripened their seeds and are going into a dor- 
mant state. Biennial and annual plants are best 
transplanted when quite young, or after they have 
obtained their second or third pair of leaves ; and 
seedlings in general may be treated in a similar 
manner. In all cases of planting, (excepting with 
Cacti and other succulents,) the plants should be 
watered as soon as they are fixed in their new sit- 
uations ; and when practicable, they should be 
shaded for a few days from the heat of the sun. 

GATHERING AND PRESEVATION OF SEEDS. 

The gathering and preservation of seeds is an 
occupation peculiarly agreeable to persons fond of 
gardening; partly, no doubt, because it contains so 
much of future promise, and on the same principle 



130 PRESERVATION OF SEEDS. 

that sowing is universally considered a more exci- 
ting operation than reaping. The greater number 
of seeds of ornamental herbaceous plants are con- 
tained in long narrow pods, called siliquez, or 
sillicles, such as those of the cruciferous plants; 
or in leguminous pods, such as those of the Sweet 
Pea ; or of capsules, such as those of Campanula ; 
but a number of plants produce their seeds naked in 
tubes, such as the Scrophularin8e; on receptacles, 
such as the Composita ; and some in fruits more or 
less fleshy, such as the Fuchsia. All seeds may 
be known to be ripe, or nearly so, by the firmness of 
their texture, and by their changing from a white or 
greenish color, to a color more or less brown. There 
are, indeed, some seeds which are whitish when ripe, 
such as the White Lupine, and of several of the 
sweet peas; and other seeds that are quite black, 
such as those of some Ranunculuses, but in general 
a brown color is characteristic of ripeness. Seeds 
should be gathered on a dry day after the sun has 
had sufficient time to exhale all the moisture which 
dews or rains may have left on the seed-vessels. 
In general, the pods, or capsules, should be cut off 
with a small portion of the stalks attached, and the 
whole should be spread out, each kind by itself, on 
papers in an airy room or shed, from which rain 
and the direct influence of the sun, are both ex- 
cluded. When the seed-vessels are thoroughly 
dried, they may be put up in papers without separa- 
ting the seeds from them ; and kept'in a dry place, 
rather airy than close, till wanted for sowing. 
Seeds preserved in the seed-vessel no doubt make 
comparatively clumsy packages, to seeds from 
which every description of husk or covering has 
been separated ; but in this clumsy state they are 



PRESERVATION OF SEEDS. 131 

found to keep better than when cleaned. Never- 
theless, when they are to be sown the following year, 
or sent any where in a letter, it is better to take 
them out of the covering, and render them as clean 
as possible, by passing them through sieves, with 
holes sufficiently large to admit the escape of dust, 
but not of the seeds. Such sieves, on a small 
scale, every lady may make for herself by turning 
up the edges of a piece of thin pasteboard cut in 
a circular form, and piercing the bottom with holes 
with a large pin or darning needle. When it is 
determined to separate the seeds from the seed-ves- 
sels, instead of putting up the whole together, the 
vessels after gathering may be dried in the sun ; 
when many of the seeds will come out by the ex- 
pansion of the seed-vessels in the heat, and the 
remainder can easily be rubbed out. This is the 
usual practice of nurserymen. For keeping seeds 
a lady ought to have a small cabinet, which she 
might form herself of pasteboard, with as many 
drawers as there are letters in the alphabet; and as 
her seeds are put up in papers, she can tie the 
packets of each genus by themselves, and put them 
in the appropriate drawer. Where so much trouble 
can not be taken, a large brown paper bag, or a 
canvass bag, for each letter of the alphabet, may be 
substituted. 

The period during which seeds will retain their 
vegetative powers differs in different families, genera, 
and even species. Seeds of the Ranunculacese and 
the cruciferffi, will, in general, retain their vitality 
for several years, in whatever manner they may be 
kept ; provided the situation be not such as will 
cause them to germinate. On the other hand, seeds 
of the Capsicum will keep for several years if re- 



]32 PRESERVATION" OF SEEDS. 

tained in the berry, but will seldom grow the second 
year when removed from it. As a safe general 
guide, it may be adopted as a rule, that all seeds 
will keep three years, and grow, provided they are 
retained in the unopened seed-vessel ; that most 
seeds, if maturely ripened, and kept in a dry place 
in close paper packets, will grow the second year ; 
and that all seeds whatever, whether kept in the 
seed-vessel, or exposed in open drawers like those 
of the seedmen, will grow the first year after being 
gathered. Mignionette seed will keep seven years ; 
but that of stocks and wall-flowers will not remain 
good more than two years, unless kept in the pod. 
Sweet peas and lupines will, with difficulty, keep 
two years, Avhile the seeds of Prince's feather and 
of poppies will keep several years. Larkspur seed 
will seldom grow after the second or third year. 
Notwithstandingr the length of time which some 
seeds will keep, it is generally advisable to sow them 
as soon after they are ripe as practicable, as fresh 
seeds always vegetate much sooner than old ones. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE WEATHER. 



The Weather is an important item, and we will 
add a few general rules to assist our readers in 
judging of its changes; premising, however that our 
rules are not always infallible. The weather is 
proverbially fickle in all her predictions and changes, 
and we can only seize upon such general prognos- 
tics as experience has shown to be correct in ordi- 
nary cases. 

Rule 1st. — If the sun rise red and fiery, you may 
expect wind and rain ; if cloudy, and the clouds 
soon decrease, certain fair weather ; if in the morn- 
ing some parts of the sky appear green between the 
clouds, while the sky is hlue above, stormy weather 
is not far ofi'. 

2nd. — Clouds small, strewed with dapple gray, 
with a North wind, bring fair weather for two or 
three days ; clouds that look like large rocks, por- 
tend large showers ; on the other hand, if large 
clouds decrease, it is a proof of fair weather in 
summer or harvest time ; if clouds rise with great 
white tops, and joined together with black on the 
lowest side, especially if two such clouds arise, 
make haste for shelter. 

3d. If Mist rises in low grounds and soon van- 
ishes, it is a token of fair weather ; and if it rises 
high, or to the tops of hills, you may expect rain 
in a day or two ; a general mist before the sun 
12* 



134 THE WEATHER. 

rises, near the full of the moon, brings fair weather ; 
if this happens in the new moon, it brings rain in 
the end ; and on the contrary, if before the sun 
rises, in the old moon, rain at the new moon. 

4. Sudden rains do not last long; but when 
the air grows thick by degrees, and the sun and 
moon and stars, shine dimmer and dimmer, it is 
likely to rain for some hours. If it begins to rain 
an hour or two before sun-rising, it is likely to be 
fair before noon, but if the rain begins an hour or 
two after sun-rising, it is likely to rain all that day, 
except the rainbow be seen before it begins to rain. 

5. Signs of rain. The air is inclined to rain 
when, at night, you hear the sound of bells, the 
noise of water, or of beasts of any kind, or any 
other noises, unassisted by the direction of the 
Avind, more plainly than at other times. The sink- 
ing of rivers, more than usual, at some seasons, is a 
certain presage of much rain to follow, and the re- 
verse after the fall of much rain, indicating dry 
weather. If the earth or other moist places 
emit any extraordinary smell, rain follows. Dews 
lying long in the morning, signify fair weather ; 
small dews, and they soon vanishing, rain. If 
the colors of the rainbow tend more to red than any 
other color, wind follows ; if green or blue, then 
rain. 

6th. The WIND. It has been observed in Eng- 
land, that in eight years together, there was as much 
north-west wind as there was north-east, and con- 
sequently as many wet years as there was dry : 
whether the same holds good in our country, has 
not been correctly ascertained, but with some care 
it could easily be proved. 

When the wind blows from the north-east, and 



THE WEATHER. 135 

continues two or three days without rain, and hath 
not some south the third day, it is likely to continue 
north-east for eight or nine days, all fair, and then 
to come south again ; if it turns again out of the 
south to the north-east, with rain, and neither turns 
south nor rainy the third day, it is likely to continue 
north-east a considerable time. Fair weather for a 
week, with a southerly wind,. is likely to produce a 
oTeat drouoht, if there has been much rain out of 
the south before. The wind usually turns from 
north to south, without rain ; but returns to the 
north with a strong wind and rain ; the strongest 
winds are when it turns from south to north-west ; 
a north-wester generally brings clear weather, and 
begins by blowing hard. Wind blowing from the 
sea, is observed to be always most cool in summer, 
and warm in winter. 

When the wind changes with the sun, that is 
from East to South, from South to West, it seldom 
goes back ; if it does it is only for a short time ; 
but if it moves in a contrary direction, that is from 
East to North, from North to West, it generally 
returns to the former point, at least before it has 
gone quite round the circle. When winds continue 
to vary for some hours, as it were to try in what 
point they were to settle, and afterwards begin to 
blow constant, they continue for some days. If 
the South wind begins to blow for two or three 
days, the North wind will blow suddenly after it; 
but if the North wind blows for the same number of 
days, the South will not rise till after the East has 
blown a while. Whatever wind begins to blow in 
the morning, it will continue longer than that which 
rises in the evening. 

Other prognostics. If the last eighteen days 



136 THE WEATHER. 

of Fehruary and the first ten days of March, be 
rainy, then spring and summer quarters are likely 
to be so. If the latter end of October and begin- 
ning of November, be for the most part warm and 
rainy, then January and February are likely to be 
frosty and cold, except after a very dry sum- 
mer. If October and November be frosty, then 
January and February are likely to be open and 
mild. Generally, a moist and cool summer portends 
a hard winter ; a hot and dry summer and autumn, 
especially if the heat and drought extend far into 
September, portend an open beginning of winter, 
and cold towards the latter part of it and the begin- 
ning of spring. A warm and open winter portends 
a hot and dry summer, for the vapors disperse in 
the winter showers, wdiereas cold and frost keep 
them in and convey them to spring and summer. 

Birds that change countries at certain seasons, 
show the temper of the Aveather according to the 
country whence they came ; as in the winter, 
pigeons, wild duck and geese, &c., if they come 
early, they come away from a hard winter, and 
when swallows come early, it is followed by a hot 
summer. 



137 



CHAPTER XIV. 
BOTANICAL EXPLANATIONS 

From Flora's Interpreter. 



FLOWERS. 

There are seven elementary parts in a flower— or, proper- 
ly speaking, flower and fruit. 

1. Calyx. The outer or lower part of the flower, gen- 

erally not colored. 

2. Corol. The colored blossom of the flower, within or 

above the calyx. 

3. Stamens. The mealy or glutinous knobs, generally on 

the ends of slender filaments. 

4. Pistil. The central organ of a flower; the base of this 

becomes the pericarp or seed. 

5. Pericarp. The covering of the seed, whether pod, 

shell, bag, or pulpy substance. 

6. Seed. The essential part, containing the rudiments of 

a new plant. 

7. Receptacle. The base which sustains the other six 

parts, being at the end of the stem. 

Any accidental appendage is a nectary. The form and po- 
sitions of these organs, and of no other part, are employed 
in distinguishing the Classes, Orders, and Genera. 

Double flowers are formed by changing the stamens into 
petals. Botanists term these vegetable monsters. 



138 BOTANICAL EXPLANATIONS. 



INFLORESCENCE, OR MANNER OF FLOWERING, 

1. Whorl. An assemblage of flowers surrounding the 
stem or its branches, constitute a whorl or ring : this is seen 
in the Mint and many of the labiate plants. 

2. Raceme, or cluster, consists of numerous flowers each 
on its own stalk or pedicle, and all arranged on one common 
peduncle ; as a bunch of Currants. 

3. Fanicle. bears the flowers in a kind of loose subdivided 
bunch or cluster, without any regular order; as in the Oat. 
A panicle contracted into a compact, somewhat ovate form, 
as in the Lilac, is called a Thyrse, or bunch; a bunch of 
Grapes is a good example. 

4. Spike. This is an assemblage of flowers arising from 
the sides of a common stem : the flowers are sessile, or with 
very short peduncles ; as the Wheat and the Mullein. 

5. Umbel, several flower-stalks, of nearly equal length, 
spreading out from a common center, like the rays of an 
umbrella, bearing flowers on their summits ; as Fennel and 
Carrot. 

6. Cyme resembles an umbel in having its common stalks 
all spring from one center, but differs in having those stalks 
irregularly subdivided; as the Snow-ball and Elder. 

7. Corymb, or false umbel— when the peduncles rise from 
different heights above the main stem; but the lower ones 
being longer, they form nearly a level, or convex top ; as, the 
Yarrow. 

8. Fascicle, flowers on little stalks variously inserted and 
subdivided, collected into a close bundle, level at the top; as 
the Sweet William. 

9. Head, or tuft, has sessile flowers heaped together in a 
globular form ; as in the Clover. 



CLASSES AND ORDERS. 139 

10, Amejit, or catkin, is an assemblage of flowers composed 
of scales and stamens, arranged along a common thread-like 
receptacle; as in the Chesnat and Willow. 

11, Spadix is an assemblage of flowers, growing upon a 
common receptacle, and surrounded by a spatha, or sheath; 
as in the Egyptian Lily. 



CLASSES AND ORDERS. 

The explanations of thes« must necessarily be very brief; 
my aim being rather to stimulate curiosity respecting the sub- 
ject of Floral Botany, than to impart instruction in the sci- 
ence, A few general facts, and a few of the first terms, are 
all that can be given. 

Flowers in the Linnaean system are divided into twenty-four 
Classes. These Classes are divided mto Orders; Orders into 
Genera ; Genera into Species ; Sj)ecies are frequently changed 
into Varieties. 

The first ten classes are distinguished by the number of 
their stamens; — thus, 

1. Monandria, 1 stamen; Flowering Reed is the only one 

of this class given. 

2. Diandria, 2 stamens: Lilac, Sage, Jasmine, etc. 

3. Triandria, 3 stamens; Crocus, Iris, Oat, etc. 

4. Tetrandria, 4 stamens; Wilch-Hazel, Holly, etc. 

5. Pc«te?iin<^, 5 stamens ; Violet, Flax, Woodbine, etc. 

6. Hexandria, 6 stamens; Lily, Sorrel, Aloe, etc. 

7. Heptandria, 7 stamens ; Horse-chesnut, etc. None of 

this class given. 

8. Octandria, 8 stamens; Nasturtion, etc, 

9. Encandria, 9 stames ; Laurel, etc. 



1 to CLASSES AXD ORDERS. 

10. Dccandria, 10 !^hiinens; Rue, Pink, ITydrange;i. 

11. Dodecanib-ia, 12 to 19 stamens ; Mignonette, etc. 

12. Jcosandria, 20 or more., standing on the calyx. Rose, 

etc. 

13. Polyandria, always 20 or more, on the receptacle; But- 

ter-cup, Larkspur, Peony, etc. 

14. Didynamia, 4 stamens, 2 of them uniformly the longest ; 

Fox-glove, Balm, Thyme, etc. 

15. Tctr adynamia, 6 stamens, 4 of them uniformly the long- 

est; Gilly-Flower, Honesty, Queen's Rocket, etc. 

16. Monoddphia, stamens united by their filaments in one 

set, anthers being separated; Geraniums, Hibiscus, 
etc. 

17. Diadelphia, stamens united by their filaments in two 

sets ; flowers papilionaceous, or butterfly-shaped. 

18. Polydelphia, stamens in two sets, united at the bottom by 

the filaments; Orange, St. John's Wort, etc. 

19. Syngensia, stamens 5, united by their anthers in one 

set, flowers compound ; China-aster, Daisy, etc. 

20. Gynandria, stamens stand on the germ, style or stigma, 

separate from the base of the calyx or corol ; Orchis, 
etc. 

21. Monaicia, stamens and pistils in separate flowers on the 

same plant; Amaranth, Pine, IVettle, etc. 
22. /^jflrift, stamens and pistils on separate plants; Yew, 
etc, 

23. Poiygamla, stamens variously situated ; sometimes on 

flowers with pistils, sometimes stamens only; Mim- 
osa, etc, 

24. Cryptogamia , the flowers of this class are invisible to 

the naked eye ; Lichen, IMoss, etc. 



ORDERS. 141 



ORDERS. 

The first thirteen orders are distinguished entirely by the 
number o[ pistils. The names of these orders are, 

Monogynia — 1 pistil. Heptagynia — 7. 

Digynia — 2. Octagynia — 8. 

Trigynia — 3. Enneagynia — 9. 

Tetradyginia — 4. Decagynia — 10. 

Pentagynia — 5. Dodecagynia — 12. 

Hexagynia — 6. Polyginia, many pistils. 

The 14th Class has ( 1 Gymnospermia — seed naked. 

2 orders — ( 2 Angiospermia — seed in capsules. 

-r.v r^i rt A O Sillicnlosa — pod short. 

loth Class — 2 orders — < o c?-i- j i 

^2 Sihquosa— pod long. 

16, 17, 18th Classes. — In these the orders are determined 
from the number of stamens. 

19. Class 5, orders 1. Equalis. — 2. Superflua. — 3 Frustanea. 

4. Nccessaria. — 5, Segergata. 

20, 21st Classes. — Orders have the same names as the pre- 

ceding classes. 

22d Class has 8 orders ; the first seven named from the num- 
ber of stamens — the 8th, Monodelphia, because the 
stamens are united in one set. 

23d Class has 3 orders. Moncecia — stamens and pistils in sep- 
arate flowers on the same plants. DicBcia — stamens, 
etc. as different plants. TricBcia — on three flowers. 

24th Class is divided into 6 families Felices, (ferns ;) 2. Musci, 
(mosses;) 3. Heptaica, (liverworts;) 4. Algcs, (sea- 
weeds ;) 5. Lichenes, (lichens ;) 6. Fungi, (mushrooms.) 
13 



142 TO PRESERVE FLOWERS AND PLANTS. 



POISONOUS PLANTS. 

1. Plants with five stamens and one pistil, with a dull-col- 
ored lurid corol, and of a nauseous sickly smell, always poi- 
sonous. As, tobacco, thorn-apple, henbane, nightshade. 

2. Umbelliferous plants of the aquatic kind, and a nauseous 
scent, are always poisonous. As, water-hemlock, cow-pars- 
ley. But if the smell is pleasant, and they grow in dry land, 
they are not poisonous. As, fennel, dill, coriander. 

3. Plants with labiate corols, and seeds in capsules, fre- 
quently poisonous. As, snap-dragon, fox-glove. 

4. Plants from which issue a milky juice on being broken, 
are poisonous, unless they bear compound flowers. As, 
milk-weed, dogbane. 

5. Plants having any appendage to the calyx or corol, and 
eight or more stamens, generally poisonous. As, colum- 
bine, nasturtion. 

Plants with few stamens, not poisonous, except the num- 
ber be five; but if the number be twelve or more, and the 
smell nauseous, heavy and sickly, the plants are generally 
poisonous. 



TO PRESERVE FLOWERS AND PLANTS. 

Place the specimens in a close, dark room ; when the 
plants are nearly dry, press them, in small quantities envelop- 
ed in paper, till the oil appears on the surface, which you 
will know by its discoloring the paper ; then do them up in 
clean paper bags, and they will retain their fragrance, color, 
and medicinal properties, for years. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




ODOmmsSflS 



